


Unfinished Business

by TheSniperandtheSkeleton



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dubious Consent, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, Fake AH Crew, Fem! Jack, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Past Abuse, Raywood, Violence, heterochromia! Ryan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-10-19 11:34:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10639002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSniperandtheSkeleton/pseuds/TheSniperandtheSkeleton
Summary: Ray is a freelance sniper living in Los Santos just getting by as he tries to escape a painful past that seems to have caught up to him once again.  His debts must be paid in one way or another and just when Ray is starting to lose hope, a quirky, handsome barista happens into his life.  Can this charming and seemingly harmless man help Ray out of the hole he has dug himself into?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings! I am very excited and very nervous to present to you my very first fic. This has been a long time in the making and I am anxious to see how everyone will respond. The basic plot revolves around Ray being stuck in debt and simultaneously falling in love with a mad mercenary disguised as a coffee shop owner. I have just about everything either written already or planned out and I hope that you all will enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed creating it. Please leave comments/feedback! I appreciate hearing your thoughts!
> 
> Also shout out to Samijen for heterochromia!Ryan
> 
> I will be adding more tags and warnings as a go, many of them are preliminary and not a primary part of the story that is released thus far.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

Ray walked down the chilly Los Santos street, with his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and shouldering a small duffel bag.  It was fall now and the air was beginning to have a cold bite around the edges.  The sun hadn’t risen yet and Ray began to debate with himself why he had even taken this job in the first place.  He was not a morning person and although he needed the money he wondered if it would have been worth sacrificing this job just to sleep a few more hours.  As he rounded another corner he noticed a small unassuming coffee shop and an idea sprung into his head.  If he had to be up at the ass crack of dawn at least he could stay a little warmer and a little more awake.  When he walked up to the door he noticed that they weren’t due to open for another fifteen minutes but as he peered inside the window an employee noticed him and came over to open the door.

“Sorry” Ray apologized, “I didn’t know you weren’t open yet.”

“It’s no problem at all” smiled the employee. “Most customers won’t show for another half hour or so but we do get the occasional early bird” he said, holding the door open for Ray.

That’s when Ray got his first good look at the employee and he stared for a moment.  The guy appeared to be in his early thirties with dirty blond hair that was swept back over his head.  He towered over Ray in height and his arms showed muscle tone that Ray didn’t think was normal for your average barista.  Or your average human for that matter.  Goddamn.  His face was blessed with a strong jaw line covered fair-colored stubble and accentuated by his expression of serene confidence.  His eyes though, were what really made Ray stop thinking altogether.  One eye was deep green and the other was a bright piercing blue. They seemed to stare right into Ray.  He was so fucked.

“Well, are you coming in?” the man queried.

Ray realized he hadn’t moved and shook himself out of his staring as he quickly nodded and shuffled awkwardly past the barista and into the shop.

It was a quaint place, small with only a few tables.  Everything was in warm earthy colors and there were various plants scattered throughout the storefront.  Ray found he liked its peaceful atmosphere better than that of your typical chain coffee shop.

Super-hot barista man moved behind the counter and asked “So what can I get for you this morning?”

Ray pondered for a moment and said “I honestly don’t know.  I would normally get hot chocolate because coffee tastes like shit but I need something to keep me awake.”

“If you don’t like coffee why didn’t you just get an energy drink or something?” the man questioned looking Ray up and down and taking in his baggy purple hoodie, gamer t-shirt, and checkered Vans.

“Ha ha okay, pick on nerd why don’t you” Ray snarked back.  “I saw your coffee shop and thought ‘why not at least try’” Ray responded with a smirk of his own.  “Also looks like I made a good choice” Ray said taking his turn to look the man up and down again.

_Oh my god am I flirting with this guy?_

“Also I’m not great at planning ahead.”

“Well let me see what I can come up with” the man said with a wink. “Name?” he said as he brandished a marker.

“Uhh Ray” Ray responded, the wink still trying to register in his brain.

_Help_

The barista began working on Ray’s drink, using all kinds of machines Ray didn’t even know were for coffee.  After a few minutes, he presented the drink to him, Ray’s name written with a flourish on the side.

“I hope you like it, I used a few different flavors a little extra expresso so hopefully it will keep you awake and won’t taste so bitter.”

“Thanks” Ray responded, taking the cup from him.  He noticed that where the man’s rolled shirt sleeve exposed his forearm there was a long faint scar that looked like it came from a knife and Ray wondered how the man had gotten it.  Ray took a small sip of the coffee and his face lit up.  It was creamy and rich with only a slight hint of bitterness and it warmed Ray from the inside out.

“This doesn’t taste like carpet!”

The man burst out laughing.  “I don’t know what coffee you were drinking before but I’m glad you like this.  I like to think that I’m good at what I do.”

“Well” Ray said after a moment “I’d have to agree.” He smiled. “I’ll see you around,” and he turned and headed for the door.

“See you Ray” the barista said in his deep melodious voice.  Ray shivered at the way he said his name and then he took off down the street before he could embarrass himself.

~~~

Ray lay on his stomach flush with the rough concrete roof of the building.  The sun was rising now and his coffee was regretfully gone.  He observed the entrance to a warehouse through his sniper scope and looked for any sign of activity.  He was waiting for a rogue dealer to show up that he had been hired to take out.  Something about the man withholding money from his boss.  Ray didn’t really care about the details; a job was a job.  His information told him that the man should be arriving soon and Ray stared down the scope trying to watch for movement.  Then as if on cue, a black SUV rounded a corner and pulled up in front of the warehouse.  Ray waited for the dealer and his cronies to hop out before he lined up his shot and fired.  Honestly, he thought, it shouldn’t be this easy.  The rest of the gang ducked and scattered and began scanning nearby rooftops for signs of movement.  Ray was quick as he packed up his rifle, darted for the ladder, and took off between some nearby buildings.  No one could say he wasn’t good at what he did either.

As he was waiting at a bus stop a few blocks away, he saw a long, black car pull up to the curb from the corner of his eye.

_Shit._

It was Friday, he had almost forgotten.  How did they always know where to find him?  He knew there was no avoiding it so he walked over and got into the backseat of the car.

“Good morning Ray,” the driver greeted him.

“So, they have you on chauffer duty now Ellis?” Ray said darkly.  The driver didn’t respond and after a moment Ray said lowly “Do we really have to do this?”

“You can take that up with the boss when we get there” Ellis retorted.

“He’s not my boss” Ray muttered under his breath.

“I think you will find that in your current situation he would disagree with you” Ellis responded.

Ray scowled back at him but said nothing more and they rode the rest of the way in silence.

~~~

They pulled up in an alley behind a club downtown and the driver walked around to let Ray out of the car.  Ellis rapped on the back door and another rough looking man opened it from the inside.  He gave Ray a little shove forward and Ray reluctantly moved inside.

The place was eerie in the daylight.  It smelled like stale booze and cheap cigarettes and the light that came in from the open door accentuated stains and chipped paint that were normally masked in the nighttime.

They moved down the hall and Ellis opened a door to reveal stairs that lead up to an office and additional rooms above the club.

Ray sighed.

_Might as well get this over with._

Ellis knocked loudly on a door at the top of the stairs and Ray hears a voice call “Come in Adam.”  ‘Adam’ opened the door shoved Ray in front of him before closing the door behind them and leaning against it.  Ray knows they aren’t taking any chances with him after what he pulled in New York.

The office is a messy sight, with papers and charts covering every surface.  The tacky gold decorations looked like they could use a good cleaning and Ray doubts that the man leaves this office very often.  In the center of the room sits an oak wood desk with a large computer where sits a lanky man with his feet propped up as looks over a newspaper.  His hair is dark and wild and his face is positively weasel-like as he sits up at the sight of Ray.

“Ahhhh Mr. Narvaez, so nice of you to join me,” he says with a smirk.

“Joel,” Ray says flatly, “I don’t need a chauffeur.”

“Ah well, I thought I would do you the favor.  Also I am busy tonight so I moved our little meeting forward.  I trust you have something for me?”

Ray glowered at him as he slid his bag to the floor and pulled out a crumpled envelope and tossed it on Joel’s desk.  Joel immediately snatched it up and began flipping through the bills inside with greedy hands.

Ray picked his bag back up and began to move quickly back towards the door when Joel said “What’s this now?”

_Shit._

“Short again Ray? Now we can’t have that.”

Ray turned back around and said “Look I did the best I could.  A job fell through and there was nothing I could do about it.”

_Tsk tsk_ “All I am hearing are excuses little Ray.  Looks like BrownMan truly does need someone to take care of him.”  Joel leered at him and Ray snapped back “I don’t need anyone, especially not you.  Look I’ll bring you the rest of what I owe by next Friday, I swear.  I can even try to pay extra for next time. Just please give me this week.”

Joel stood up and sauntered around his desk to stand in front of Ray.  He hooked a bony finger under Ray’s chin and forced him to make eye contact.

“Aw baby now you know I can’t say no when you beg” Joel sneered.

Ray felt himself flush and he jerked away from Joel’s touch.  He hated the reactions the Joel could still bring out of him and he hated Joel’s chuckle at his reaction.

“Fine,” Joel said. “I will expect the rest of the money and then some by next Friday, just know this is the last time I will allow you an extension.  There are other ways I could satisfy the debt you owe if you fail to pay again.”

Ray nodded, not meeting Joel’s eyes, understanding the implication behind his words.

_Never again.  I said I would never let it come to that._

Ray left the room as quickly as he could and took off down the stairs and out onto the street.  As he made his way back to his apartment he began trying to think of how he was going to make up the rest of the money before next week.  All memories of his encounter with the hot barista this morning far from his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray finds a temporary solution and has an unexpected run in with the Vagabond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the kudos and comments! I appreciate them!
> 
> This is turning out to be more of a slow burn then I had originally intended but I am finding I just can't rush the plot. This chapter is buildup toward some action next chapter; also featuring Ryan's perspective.
> 
> I don't really know what the release schedule is going to look like yet, right now it will be AT LEAST once a week but more than likely every 3-4 days.
> 
> Also thoughts on Mavinseg + Jeremy? Mavinsegemy? Do they have a ship name? I have been considering adding them in as one giant ship rather than two separate ships. There's a lot of love to go around.
> 
> Anyways as always thanks for supporting my fic!

Ray ran down the alley not stopping to look and see if his pursuers were behind him.  It was Sunday evening and rain was pouring down his back as he ducked around another corner and paused against the wall to catch his breath.  He was embarrassed by how much a little running had winded him.

_God Ray, you really need to stop eating Taco Bell._

He listened for a moment to see if he could hear anyone sloshing down the street after him but all seemed clear.  Ray sighed and took a moment to check his backpack to make sure the drugs he had just stolen were still there.  He had the idea to start dealing again yesterday while he was laying around his apartment, panicking over how he was going to pay Joel.  It seemed as good of a solution as he was going to find in the moment.  He used to sell drugs years ago back in New York but now he only kept weed around for the occasional high.  When he had first started out on the streets in his hometown he didn’t know just what he was getting himself into.  After a few months of regular dealing he finally met the gang leader he had been indirectly working for; none other than Joel himself.  And well, things had progressed from there.

Ray was hoping that he could pick up some more sniping contracts to make up the money he needed but the work was unpredictable and inconsistent.  He was slowly beginning to make a name for himself in the city and his reputation was growing but it seemed it wasn’t enough.  He had deliberately kept himself disassociated from any gangs when he came to Los Santos.  He hoped that being a ‘neutral’ third party would make himself more marketable as a hitman, and besides, he had had enough of gangs.  That is after all, why he ran away from New York.

The drugs he had just stolen were from a small-time gang member that Ray had tracked the day before.  He didn’t think the man would be able to give him much trouble and if he remained anonymous he could avoid heat from anyone further up the chain of the group this guy belonged to.

Ray shouldered his backpack again and began to make his way back to his apartment.  He would begin making a list tonight of clubs and other venues where he could start selling without issue.  He specifically wanted to make sure he avoided any that were owned by Joel.  As he turned a corner lost in thought, a large mass came out of nowhere, plowing into him and knocking him flat onto the wet pavement.  Ray stared up disoriented at a tall figure looming over him in a leather jacket and black skull mask.  Ray let out a little ‘yelp’ and he immediately began to scoot himself backwards awkwardly across the pavement.

_Seriously what the fuck shit shit shit._

The man merely stared at him, head slightly tilted and eyes shadowed in the dim streetlight. After a moment, he took off running down the alley from which Ray had just come, not saying word.  Ray sat there trying not to vomit out his wildly beating heart.

_Was that the fucking Vagabond what the fuck Ray how are you not dead shit shit shit._

Ray picked himself up, jeans now soaked and he realized how ridiculous he must have looked as he scooted away from the _fucking Vagabond_.

_You think I could have pulled a knife or something.  God Ray how are you not dead.  This is why you only snipe and stay out of conflict._

Ray composed himself and hurried the rest of the way home.  He checked around every corner to make sure he didn’t run into anyone else tonight.

_No more surprises, I’ve had enough excitement for one weekend._

~~~

It was Wednesday evening and Ray was making steady progress with his plan.  He was quickly selling the drugs he had stolen and he knew he was going to have to acquire more soon.  Right now, however, he was headed to another sniping job he picked up the other day.  With the money from this job he should have just enough for Joel come Friday.  He expected this to be a simple in and out job, just a drug deal that someone wanted to make sure didn’t go as planned. 

As he was making his way down towards the docks he realized that he was not far from the coffee shop he had visited last week.  Suddenly the memories of the barista came flooding back to him and he found his feet carrying him in that direction.  He arrived at the shop and slowly walked inside.

~~~

Ryan was busy putting clean dishes away behind the counter when he heard the door chime.  He looked up and saw none other than Ray walking through the door.  His mind immediately flashed to their chance encounter the other night.  He hadn’t meant to run into Ray and he smiled to himself as he remembered the look of utter surprise on his face.  He realizes now he must have given Ray quite a shock as he would have had no idea that the Vagabond and himself were one in the same.  Then again, anyone accidentally running headlong into you on a dark street would be enough to scare the shit out of most people.  He pauses in thought for a moment suddenly taking a moment to wonder just what Ray had been doing on that side of town late at night.  He shakes it off and moves behind the register to greet Ray.

“Hey Ray, welcome back! The coffee must have not been that bad if you’re back for more.”

Ray smiled and said “Eh, it was alright, I suppose I could go for some more if it isn’t too much trouble?”

Ryan nodded, “Sure, late night tonight?”

Ray paused for moment “Ehh I guess you could say so.  Hey, uh, so I realized I don’t know your name…”

Ryan gestured to his name badge “Ryan.”  He smiled, “sorry that was rude of me, I’ll remember my manners next time.” He winked and Ray flushed lightly.

“Soo, uh, can I get the same thing as last time?”

“Sure, coming right up.”

Ryan set to work and Ray glanced around at the empty café. “Wait are you closing soon? I’m sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No, no it’s no trouble.” Ryan placated.  “I was just starting to clean things up, we close in fifteen.”

Just then a short, curvy woman with a brown ponytail and glasses popped out of the kitchen.  “Hey Ryan I am going to close up the rest of the kitchen and head out.”

“Sure thing Steff, I’ll be wrapping up here soon.”

“Okay, be careful out there tonight.” She gave him a meaningful look and then disappeared back into the kitchen.

Ryan turned back to Ray. “That was Steffie, she’s my baker and occasional barista.”

“Do you have very many employees?” Ray queried.

“Well, I have several part time workers who help out when I need it but I chiefly manage the shop.”

As Ryan was finishing up Ray’s drink the door chimed again and a tall, lanky man with golden blond hair sauntered into the shop.  He was wearing a dark long sleeved shirt and dark combat pants and was peculiarly decked out in all manner of gold jewelry.  Most peculiar of all perhaps were the bright gold aviators he wore even though it was clearly dark outside.  He smiled evenly at Ryan and said “Hey Ry bread, ready to go soon?”

“Give me a sec Gav, I’m just about done here.”

Gavin nodded and pulled out a gold iPhone and began tapping away.

Ryan noticed Ray glance between him Gavin, probably making assumptions Ryan would rather not have him make and he winced.  He presented the finished beverage to Ray with a flourish.

“Here you are, I hope you enjoy as much as last time.”

“Thanks again.” Ray went to pay but Ryan stopped him.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s on me.  The drawer is already closed out anyway.” He winked at Ray again enjoyed the blush he saw rise in his face.

“Uhh yeah uhh I’ll see you around.”

Ray shuffled quickly out of the store past Gavin and disappeared into the dark street.

As soon as he was gone Gavin looked up from his phone, lowering his glasses to smirk and give Ryan a knowing look.

“Seems Ryan might have a little crush” he simpered.

“Shut up” Ryan glared at him.

“Ahh but you aren’t denying it! Look how cute he was with his hoodie and glasses, are you sure he’s not in high school?”

The look of pure menace Ryan gave Gavin shut him up immediately.

“Alright, alright” he said under his breath going back to messing with his phone.  He snickered to himself immediately sending his newly acquired information to his boys.

Ryan finished cleaning up the shop and went to change into gear more suited for the shady nighttime activities they were taking part in tonight.

“Ready to go Gavin?”

Gavin rolled his eyes “Been ready Ry, let’s get this job done.”

Ryan locked the door behind them and they took off down the street.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan and Gavin's mission does not go as planned. Neither does Ray's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I was going to wait to post this because I finished very early but I figured what is the point of keeping you waiting. Things get exciting this chapter! Hope you enjoy!

Ray lay on a rooftop once again, waiting for his targets to show.  He was in a poorer part of the commercial district, carefully watching the back-parking lot of a shady pawn shop.  He had been instructed to take out two members from an up and coming group of criminals.  They were slowly organizing into a gang and the guy he had been contracted by disliked the competition it was causing with his dealer.  Ray sighed glancing at his empty coffee cup which was regretfully gone.  He did a double take noticing for the first time the numbers that were scrawled across the side of the cup.  They had been hidden under the cup sleeve which had slipped down.

_You sly fucker._

Ray smiled to himself and put the cup in his bag to make sure he didn’t lose it.  He realized he must have misread the situation between the Ryan and the man that had entered the store earlier.  Their relationship appeared very natural and it seemed like they had plans together tonight but then why would Ryan have given Ray his number if he was with someone else?  Also, the man in flashy gold accessories had seemed familiar somehow but Ray couldn’t place how he would know him.  He tried not to worry himself about it too much and went back to concentrating on the lot below him.

~~~

After they parked Ryan’s motorcycle nearby, Ryan and Gavin moved quickly and silently down the alley heading toward the pawn shop.  Ryan noted that Gavin could be stealthy and focused when he wanted to be and he wished that attitude would carry over more often during the crew’s heists.  He honestly would have preferred to take Michael or Mica on this type of mission but Geoff had insisted that Gavin would be fine.

They had been keeping an eye on a pawn store owner/drug dealer name Al who had interest in doing business with the Fakes.  The dealer had promised a special shipment just for the Fakes but Geoff had his doubts that the man was being honest.  He wanted to get a hold of some of the product first before deciding to make a deal.  Matt had gathered intel that said there should be a deal going on tonight and they were going to try to see who the man was buying from and potentially steal from the buyers. 

When they got about a block away they strategized the best place to observe in secret.

“We should split and get two different vantage points, one of us behind the dumpsters in the parking lot and another in an alley across the street.  After we get a good look at who is buying we can follow them on the bike.” Ryan gestured and pulled out a black ski mask which he tossed at Gavin.

“Aww really? Do I have to?” Gavin pouted.

Ryan reached over and tousled Gavin’s hair.  “There now it won’t matter because your hair is already wrecked.  And yes, you have to, we aren’t taking any risks.”

Gavin frowned and reluctantly pulled the mask on.  “Fine, happy now?”

Ryan smirked behind his skull mask. “Sure. Now, you set up behind the dumpster corral in the corner of the lot and I will watch from the alley.  Use the walkie talkie if something happens that you need to communicate.  And don’t let them see you.”

“Alright alright thanks Jack” Gavin said sarcastically.  “And really? Walkie talkies? Mine’s not even gold.”

Ryan rolled his eyes.  “Yes walkie talkies because earpieces are unnecessarily complicated for a mission this simple.  Now let’s go.”

Gavin rolled his eyes back at Ryan and took off silently for his vantage point.  Ryan set himself up in the alley, hidden in the shadows so that he would not be spotted by passersby but could still have a clear view of the back of the shop.  He sighed, hopefully they wouldn’t be here long.

~~~

Ray was steadily watching the shop when he saw a flicker of movement in the corner of the lot near the dumpsters.  He froze and carefully scanned the area for any sign of activity.  When nothing else seemed to happen, he relaxed a little but kept a wary eye out for more unusual movement.

About fifteen minutes later a dark car pulled into the lot, parking parallel with back of the pawn shop.  Two men got out and waited outside by the door.

_There you are, finally._

These must be his targets.  He waited for the dealer to come out and begin talking to the men before carefully lining up his first shot and firing.  The first man fell dead and Ray quickly reloaded to line up his second shot.  The dealer realized what was happening immediately and ducked behind the car for cover.  The second man froze in surprise and was slow to act and Ray managed to pick him off before he could dive for cover.

_Done and done now I just need to get out of here._

Ray quickly slung his sniper rifle over his back, grabbed his bag, and headed for the fire escape.  As he was making his way down he saw a figure running in this direction.

_Shit, that’s not good._

He hurried as fast as he dared and took off running down the alley as soon as his feet hit the pavement.

~~~

Just as the car parked behind the building, Ryan noticed a flicker of movement from the roof of the three-story building on the other side of the lot.  He immediately picked up his walkie talkie and warned Gavin.

“We have company.  Sniper on the roof of the building behind you.  Get out of there now.”

“Wait, what..” But before Gavin could say more a shot rang out and Ryan saw one of the gang members drop dead.  He cursed under his breath and took off toward the building the sniper was positioned on.  A second shot rang out and he knew didn’t have much time.

“Gavin get to the bike, I am going to try to head off the sniper.”

He didn’t bother listening for an answer as kept running.  Just as he reached the alleyway behind the building he saw a dark blur disappear around the corner.  He cursed and continued to run down the after the sniper.

“Uh Ryan? Ryan!”  Gavin was calling him from the walkie talkie.  He cursed under his breath and did his best to respond while running.

“What is it Gavin?!”

“Uhh I forgot where we stashed the bike, I’m hiding in some bushes right now.”

“Fucking really Gavin?” Ryan swore and continued to run.  “I’ll help you later just stay hidden for now!”

Ryan turned down another alley and swore again as he lost line of sight on the sniper.  He ran down the alley and into the street beyond but no luck.  He was just debating which way to go when he heard the rev of an engine behind him.

~~~

Ray ran as fast as his little Puerto Rican body would carry him.  He could here footsteps pounding down the street after him and it was moments like this that he really wished he had a car.  He ducked into another alley and quickly decided to hide behind some crates stacked there.  He pulled out a pistol preparing to fire on whoever was pursuing him.  As he crouched trying not to pant too loudly he noticed a motorcycle concealed cleverly nearby behind a trash bin.

_Yes Ray you lucky bastard._

He then heard the pounding footsteps get louder and a dark figure in a skull mask breezed past him.

_Holy shit was that the Vagabond?_

As soon as the man made it down the alley Ray got out of his cover and ran over to the bike.  Fate truly was on his side because as he reached the bike he noticed the keys were still in the ignition.

_Oh my god are you serious. What an idiot._

Ray quickly mounted the bike and quickly started the engine, hoping to god he could remember how to drive.  He took off out of the alley the way he had come.  He thought he had gotten away but just then he heard the footsteps running behind him and a _swish_ as a knife embedded itself in his upper right forearm.  He yelped and pain as he fought to maintain control of the bike.  He laid into the gas and took off down the street but not before turning around momentarily to see the Vagabond standing in the middle of the street glaring murderously at him.

~~~

When Ryan whipped around he saw the sniper with a bright pink rifle strapped to his back taking off on a motorcycle. _His motorcycle._ He realized that they had ran right down the alley where Ryan has stashed it earlier.  Ryan chased him down to the street and whipped out a knife, throwing it and trying to get the guy to lose his balance.  He heard a yelp as the knife found its target but the driver managed to maintain control and not falter.  As he took off, the hooded sniper turned to look at him and Ryan froze in shock.

_Ray?  The sniper was Ray?_

He stood there dumbfounded for a moment, not knowing how to respond to this information.

_So Ray has some secrets as well.  And he just stole my bike._

Ryan somehow couldn’t bring himself to be mad.  He needed to learn more about who Ray was and what he was doing here tonight.  Immediately a wave of guilt washed over him as he realized he has just injured Ray.

_Not really what I had in mind for a first date._

He sighed as he pulled out the walkie talkie to call Gavin.

“Gavin are you there?”

“Ryan what the bloody hell happened? Did you catch him?”

“No and he took off with my bike.  Where are you?  I am going to call Jack and have her pick us up.”

“You bloody let him steal the bike?!” Gavin burst out laughing before giving Ryan directions to the park he was hiding in.  Ryan sighed dejectedly, before making his way over to Gavin. He was not looking forward to the roast he was going to receive when they got back to the penthouse.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan faces the crew, Ray gets a wake-up call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapter yet! Hope you enjoy, some introductions this chapter, little backstory, and build-up for future events.  
> As always I appreciate every single comment and kudos! You guys are what pushes me to keep writing! Keep sharing your thoughts and opinions!

As soon as Ray got a few blocks away from his apartment he ditched the bike in an abandoned overgrown lot.  After examining it closer he found a bright green logo on the side of the bike that he had failed to notice earlier.  He knew that logo anywhere.  Everyone in this city did.

_Holy shit I stole the FAKE’s bike.  I stole the Vagabond’s bike.  How the fuck am I still alive._

Ray wanted to hit himself for being so stupid.  He high-tailed it out of there before anyone could spot him, clutching his arm as he ran.

This brought Ray to his present situation where he sat on the cold tile of his bathroom floor clenching his teeth as he stitched up his arm.  His hands were steady as he worked but he couldn’t help wincing every time the needle punctured his skin.

_Of course, it couldn’t have been my left arm that skeletor nailed with his knife.  Geez this guy is really out to get me._

Ray wrapped up his injured arm and silently thanked his mom for making him take first aid courses in high school.  Those skills were paying off a lot more than he would like to admit.  The knife had not done any major damage as far as Ray could tell.  It hadn’t sunk very deep and he was grateful it hadn’t been necessary to make a trip to the hospital.  Ray groggily got up off the floor and examined his ruined hoodie and blood soaked t-shirt.

_Aw and I liked this one._

He sighed and threw the ruined clothes in a garbage bag then headed off to the kitchen in search of food and some weed to take the edge off his pain.  He had some stashed away for an emergency and he was pretty sure this qualified.

As he collapsed onto his shitty sofa he picked up the knife that had been lodged in his arm.  It was light and small, the perfect shape for what it had been used for.  Ray noticed that on one side there was an etching of a skull and he gave a little snort.

_Fucking really? Seems this guy is obsessed with his whole ‘death’ motif._

Ray couldn’t help thinking it was kind of dorky, like this guy had to constantly reassert to everyone that he was big and scary by dressing in a shitty Halloween mask and drawing skulls all over everything.  Ray supposed he shouldn’t be one to judge as he was constantly drawing roses on everything.

Ray soon fell into a hazy sleep, letting the effects of the weed and his exhaustion overcome him.

~~~

Ryan sat on the overpriced, plush couch in the common area of the penthouse trying to ignore all the crew’s stares which were currently directed at him.  He was grateful once again that he had not taken off his mask.

“ _So._ You’re telling me that some kid sniped both buyers before they could make a transaction, evaded you, and to top it all off he stole your bike?!” Geoff was staring at him in utter astonishment.

“Um yeah.  Seems that way” Ryan replied sheepishly, avoiding all eye contact.

Geoff burst into uproarious laughter immediately followed by Jeremy and Michael.  Jack was still irritated that she had been summoned at 1:00am to come and pick them up on the other side of the city.

“Holy dicks dude, I need to hire this kid!” Geoff cajoled, still wheezing with laughter.  “Did you recognize him?”

Ryan froze for a moment.  For some reason, he felt reluctant to reveal Ray’s identity.  He didn’t think that his previous encounters with Ray had been anything but chance and until he learned more he wanted to respect that privacy.  He didn’t think that Ray was a threat to them, at least not presently.  It seemed their run-in tonight had been purely coincidental.

“I don’t know who he was but I noticed he was carrying a bright pink sniper rifle if that means anything to you,” Ryan replied in partial truth.

“Brownman,” Jack immediately said and Geoff nodded in agreement.  “Yeah that sounds like him.”

“Wait, who?” Ryan questioned, confused.

Jack turned to him and said “He calls himself Brownman.  He is a freelance sniper who has recently started increasing his work in the area.  I don’t believe he is associated with a particular crew or gang at the moment.  He is known for his obnoxious pink rifle and perfect aim.  We were actually considering contracting him for a future job.”

“It’s unfortunate that the job didn’t go as planned tonight but I think his presence there was the result of a third party’s interest in the same dealer.  They were probably hoping to eliminate some competition.” Geoff rubbed his temples and sighed.  “We are going to have to figure out who contracted Brownman before trying to negotiate with Al.”

Jack got up from her perch on Geoff’s armchair and started shooing them out of the room. “Alright enough of this, we can talk tomorrow.  Everyone to bed. Now.  No one better wake me up again.”

No one dared argue with the woman. She was scary enough when she wasn’t sleep deprived.  Ryan headed to his room and collapsed on his bed.  As he lay there he couldn’t help thinking back to Ray and guilt washed over him as he remembered the knife he had thrown.  He wanted to pursue getting to know Ray better as himself, as Ryan, but he knew that he would have to find a way to tell him about Vagabond sooner than later.  Otherwise one of them might end up on the other side of a gun.

_Ugh why do things have to be so complicated.  I should have just stuck to running a coffee shop and growing house plants._

He sighed knowing there was nothing more he could do about the situation right now.  He settled down into a restless sleep, hoping to get some rest for once.

~~~

Ray awoke to an incessant pounding on his apartment door.  He groaned and rolled over only to realize too late that he was on the couch and not in his bed and he crashed to the floor.  He let out a pained ‘yelp’ as he hit his injured arm against the coffee table.  He swore and began fumbling for his glasses and his phone.  He noticed he had four missed calls, two voice mails, and eight text messages all from the same person who was probably outside his apartment this very moment.

_Shit, I completely forgot._

“Hey! Asshole! Wake the fuck up and open the door!”  the pounding on his door continued.

Yep.  No doubt that was him.  Ray sighed and glanced quickly around the apartment to make sure any incriminating evidence was hidden away.  Satisfied, he stumbled to the door and unlocked it, groaning again as his arm began to throb.  The person on the other side came bursting in as soon as he had released the deadbolt and Ray had to quickly step back to avoid being trampled.

“What the hell Ray? It’s practically 2pm! You were supposed to be over four hours ago!!”

“Look, I’m sorry Michael I kind of didn’t wake up until just now…” Ray replied sheepishly.

Michael scoffed, “Well at least you are actually sleeping now, idiot.  I was afraid you got got.  Since you failed to show up earlier I went and bought groceries because I figured you had shit for food here anyway.”

Ray noticed for the first time that Michael’s arms were loaded with several grocery sacks.

“Dude you didn’t have to do that.”

Michael smirked, “Hey, team better friends right? Now go pull yourself together while I put these away.  Since we aren’t at my place getting halo coop achievements I guess we are going to do it in your shithole of an apartment.”

Ray smiled ruefully and headed off to his bedroom.  He really didn’t deserve a friend like Michael.  They were supposed to be spending the day together playing video games and Ray had completely forgotten with the chaos of his job last night.  He dug through his drawers and pulled out a not-too-dirty-to-wear t-shirt, sweats and an unblemished purple hoodie.  While he was changing he quickly rebandaged his arm and took some painkillers.  He was silently thankful that Michael hadn’t said anything about his injured arm.  That was one explanation he did not want to have to give.

He and Michael had been friends for many years now, spanning back to when Ray lived in New York.  They had both attended the same high school and had quickly bonded over their love of video games and their mutual ‘I-don’t-give-a-fuck’ attitudes.  Post-high school Michael had moved out west for a job offer in Los Santos and they had stayed connected over the internet and multiplayer games.  As fate would have it, Ray ended up following Michael out to the west coast a few years later and they had reconnected.  Ray didn’t know exactly what it was Michael did for a living but then, he didn’t disclose what he did for work either.  It had become somewhat of an unspoken, mutual agreement not to pry into that part of each other’s lives.

As Ray was digging through his backpack looking for his DS, he came across his discarded coffee cup from yesterday.  He immediately remembered the phone number scrawled on the side and his face flushed.  He quickly entered the number into his phone and placed the cup on a shelf in his closet.  For some reason, he felt reluctant to throw it away.

“Hey beauty queen, are you done getting ready yet? Cuz’ I made food!”

Ray headed out to the kitchen and sure enough Michael had made them both sandwiches with deli meat and cheese.  Michael looked Ray up and down and smirked at his appearance.

“You always dress so nice for me babe. Seriously do I need to do your laundry for you too?”

Ray flipped him off, grabbed a plate, and headed to the living room.  Michael followed him and they both settled in to eat and start their video game marathon.  Ray saw Michael glance at the bag of marijuana and rolling papers he had left on the coffee table last night.

“You blazing it up again?” Michael asked jokingly.

“I had a rough night” Ray replied flatly.

Michael looked at him briefly and said “Seems like it,” and they left it at that.

At some point in the afternoon Ray decided he should actually text Ryan.  He wasn’t being honest if he didn’t admit he was excited about it.

**Ray: Hey this is Ray**

About a minute later he received a response.

**Ryan: Hey! I didn’t think you would actually respond.**

**Ray: Well then why the hell did you bother giving me your number?**

**Ryan: It was worth a shot.  I couldn’t let the opportunity pass me by again, especially not with someone as cute as you.**

Ray felt himself blush.  What the hell was with this guy.

“Who are you texting?” Michael had noticed Ray’s expression and was leaning over trying to read Ray’s phone.

“No one!” Ray immediately responded jerking his hand away and blushing even harder.

“Awww does Ray have a crush?!” Michael teased.

“No! It’s just some guy I met, who is also kind of hot...”

“Sounds like you might want to jump on that,” Michael said, elbowing him in the ribs and wiggling his eyebrows.

Ray glared at him and said “Can we get back to Halo?”

“Hey you were the one who was distracted.”

They continued into sometime in the evening when Michael said he had to go.  Ray had kept up his conversation Ryan throughout the day, asking questions about his interests and finding out that they had a lot in common.  They both loved video games and sci-fi, and they both enjoyed spending time in the city at night.  Ray confessed to Ryan that he loved to go up to Chilliad at night and enjoy the solitude.

**Ryan: Hey so I was wondering if you would be interested in going out together sometime, maybe to the pier?**

**Ray: Yeah I think I’d like that a lot, did you have a day in mind?**

**Ryan: Are you available tomorrow evening?**

Ray considered for a moment.  He had to make his payment to Joel tomorrow but as long as all went well he should be able to meet Ryan.

**Ray: That works for me, meet you there at 7?**

**Ryan: Sounds perfect, see you then Ray**

Ray couldn’t help the somersault his stomach did at the thought of a date(?) with Ryan.  He had to go out and finish some sales tonight to meet the amount of money he needed for tomorrow but for once things were seeming to line up in his favor.  He could only hope that this trend would continue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to imagine that if you opened Ray's closet he just has a row of the exact same purple hoodie like a cartoon character.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray fulfills his payment and the Fake AH Crew have an impromptu meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! It wasn't originally my plan to post 5 chapters in one week but here we are anyway (I don't think anyone is complaining)
> 
> Some new, unexpected faces, lots of buildup, and story reveal this chapter. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> As always, every single one of your comments makes my day! Your support is what keeps me writing!

Ray arrived at the club early Friday afternoon, hoping this would be quick and painless.  He had sold the rest of what he had last night and he had the amount he had promised to Joel.  He knocked on the door and shuffled his feet nervously, shoving his hands in his pockets.  He was glad Joel hadn’t felt the need to send him an escort this time.  He didn’t like feeling like he was losing control over his life again.  The door opened and the guard on the other side looked him up and down before gesturing him inside.

“They are expecting you upstairs.”

Ray nodded and headed inside quickly.  He made his way up the stairs and knocked on Joel’s office door.  It opened and Ray was greeted by a man he didn’t recognize.  He was lean but muscular, with wavy dark hair similar to Ray’s own, and mischievous eyes.

“You must be Ray then.  Funny, I didn’t expect you to be so… petite.  I guess Joel does love his twinks.”

Ray glared indignantly at the man and was about to retort when a voice interrupted from further in the room.

 “Cole stop teasing and send him in.”

Ray shoved past Cole and entered the office.  To his surprise, it was not Joel who sat behind the desk but a different man, one he recognized immediately.  His long brown locks were swept back over his head and his keen eyes examined Ray with cool disinterest.

“Risinger, what the hell are you doing here? Where’s Joel?”

“Joel and Adam are back in New York on business for a few days so he assigned me to take care of things until he gets back.”

Ray stared at him. “Since when do you work for him?  I thought you went were a freelance journalist.”

Jon smiled evenly at him and said, “Well I go where the money goes and Joel is a brilliant economist.  He asked me for some assistance with his presence in the media and I was more than happy to oblige, for a price.  It has been working out terrifically so far, though it doesn’t look like I can say the same for you.”  He examined Ray for a long moment and smirked.

“It’s not like I had a choice,” Ray muttered through gritted teeth.

“Oh I think you had a choice, you just made the wrong one.”  Jon looked at him knowingly.

_How much did Joel tell him?_ He thought frantically to himself.  Ray had had some brief interactions with Jon when he was still in New York but he hadn’t thought that Jon was that deeply involved in Joel’s business.  Joel must really trust him if he was here today.

Jon smirked again at Ray’s troubled expression and said “Well I trust you won’t be causing a trouble today.  Do you have the agreed amount?”

Ray shoved a hand into his pocket, pulled out a rumpled envelope and handed it to Jon.  Jon quickly examined the money then smiled devilishly at Ray.

“Looks like all is in order.  Joel will expect you again next Friday with your normal payment.”

Ray nodded stiffly and turned to head out the door.

“See you around Ray,” Jon called after him.  “And don’t make the same mistake as last time.”

Ray’s faced burned in anger as he made is way out of the club and back to his apartment.  He had been almost grateful that he hadn’t had to face Joel but this unexpected encounter with Risinger was making him anxious.

_How much further does Joel think he needs to humiliate me?_

He tried to shake off the bad thoughts and focus on better ones, like his date with Ryan tonight.  He was nervous and excited all at once and hoped things would go well.  He liked Ryan a lot so far and he was hoping that Ryan would feel the same about him.  He resigned himself to planning how he was going to make money this week while he waited for the afternoon to pass by.

~~~

Ryan stood behind the counter of his coffee shop, filling orders and conversing with customers.  He loved this work because it was calming and repetitive.  It also helped to ease his nerves in a less destructive manner.  His shop was his small refuge from the chaos and destruction of the other half of his life.  There was a lull in customers and Ryan was cleaning one of the machines when he heard the door open and saw Matt and Larry walk in the door.  He gave them a quizzical look and Matt responded by saying “Geoff needs you at the penthouse for an impromptu meeting.”

“And why didn’t he just call me?”

“He said that you wouldn’t leave your precious shop on such short notice so he sent us to take over.”

Ryan had to admit he was right.  Normally he set up a weekly schedule so that the crew knew his availability during daytime hours.  Ryan however was hesitant to turn over the shop to Larry and Matt of all people.  Apparently, some of his reluctance showed on his face because Larry said “Come on, we’ll be fine.  How hard can it be?  We’ve helped you out before.”

Ryan sighed. “Alright, but please be careful with the machines.  And this place better be spotless when I come back tomorrow.”  Ryan ducked into the kitchen to find Steffie.  “Hey, Matt and Larry are here to take over for the rest of the day.  Geoff needs me for a meeting.”

“Oh hell no.” Steffie looked at him indignantly.  “I do not get paid enough to babysit two man-children.”

“Look Geoff’s orders, I’m not happy about it either.  Just don’t let them destroy the store.”

Steffie glared at him and he quickly ducked back out of the kitchen before she could say anything else.  He made a mental note to buy Steffie flowers sometime in the next few days.  He grabbed his stuff and reluctantly moved to leave.  Larry and Matt continually assured him he had nothing to worry about but he saw Larry had already made himself at home on top of the counter and Matt was mixing a coffee concoction with every kind of syrup available.  He sighed and wondered what Geoff had promised them in order to get them to work today.  He was starting to think he was the one who didn’t get paid enough.

He went outside and hopped in his sleek, black sports car.  He had had to switch to driving it instead of his motorcycle, which they had still been unable to locate.  It was a shame really, he liked that motorcycle.  At this rate, he would probably just buy a new one, maybe in chrome this time.  He realized belatedly that even if he found his motorcycle he couldn’t drive it when Ray was around without being discovered.  He laughed at his almost stupidity.

_It would have been awkward if I showed up to the pier tonight on the Vagabond’s motorcycle._

He made his way downtown and parked his car in the crew’s garage.  He noticed that all the main crew’s vehicles were already there and realized this meeting must be more serious than he thought if everyone was attending.  He took the elevator up to the penthouse suite and entered the planning room.  Geoff stood at the head of the table pouring over a map and several documents.  Lindsay sat on one side of him with a laptop in front of her and on his other side, surprisingly, was Trevor.  Michael and Jeremy sat next to one another conversing quietly and Jack was writing notes on one of the many whiteboards.  Ryan took a seat next to Lindsay and gave Michael a questioning look as if to say ‘ _do you know why we are all here?’_ Michael merely shrugged, apparently not knowing either.

_Well that’s not exactly encouraging.  This better not take all day._

Just then Gavin entered the room and proceeded to sprawl himself across Jeremy and Michael’s laps.  Both immediately scooted back, dumping him onto the floor where he landed with a squawk.

“Aww bois! What was that for?” Gavin looked up at them and pouted.

Michael snickered “Get your own chair asshole, I’m not sharing mine.”

Gavin looked imploringly at Jeremy and Jeremy sighed defeatedly.  “Fiiine Gav, come here.”

Gavin jumped up in triumph and immediately made himself at home on Jeremy’s lap, giving Michael a smug look.

“You’re weak” Michael said to Jeremy.

Jeremy shrugged and said “You know I can’t tell him no.”

“Yeah and that is why he is a smug prick all the time.”

Gavin smiled and started nuzzling into Jeremy’s neck and Ryan made a not-so-discreet gagging noise.

“Alright assholes stop making out in the meeting room, we have business to talk.” Geoff took the map he had in from of him and hung it on the board at the front of the room.

“Let me start by saying that there are going to be a few changes in leadership and responsibilities in the coming weeks.  As you know Lindsay has been sharing a lot of my responsibilities lately as far as maintaining the crew is concerned.  Trevor here is also going to be stepping in frequently, especially when we have a lot of work on our hands.  He will be taking over full management of the support crew, so anything concerning them will go to him first.”

Geoff sighed and rubbed his face. “So, I know what you all really want to know is why are you all here today.”

“Yeah what the bloody hell is going on?  Is this about the other night?” Gavin queried.

“Yes and no, but we do need to discuss that first.  We think that the incident with Al was unrelated to the deal we were trying to make with him, however it seems he has gone underground.  Probably trying to lay low and regain the trust of his buyers.  We were able to track down the men that hired Brownman, and it seems to be exactly as we suspected.  He was contracted to take out some competition and the fact we were there the same night seems to be a coincidence.”

Geoff let out another long sigh before continuing.  “The real issue I gathered you here for today is a much bigger problem.  Do you guys remember the Cockbites?”

Michael nodded, “Wasn’t that a crew you helped to create?”

“Yes.  Myself and several of my good friends formed a crew years ago back in Austin, Texas.  That is actually how Jack and I met.”

Jack nodded and gave a small, sad smile.

“We grew powerful quickly and became one of the most dangerous crews in the southwest, but things didn’t last.  A lot issues began to arise between a few of the crew members and eventually some of us split off to pursue our own goals.  Jack and I came to Los Santos and eventually started this crew. Another one of the founders, named Joel Heyman, left for New York after a major falling out.  I haven’t seen him in years and neither has Burnie.”

“Wait, so you are still in contact with them?” Michael asked.

“Yes, Burnie is still running the Cockbites down in Austin and he and I are on good terms.  Can’t say the same about Heyman though, which brings me to the main problem.  Burnie contacted me yesterday and warned me that Heyman is making a move on Los Santos, in fact he has already been in the city for several months.”

Ryan sat there stunned for a moment.  This seemed like a major oversight if they were only just now finding out about an enemy’s presence in the city.  He seemed not to be the only one with this concern.

Jeremy blurted “Wait, how the hell are we just finding this out now? And what does this guy want anyway?”

“That’s just it,” Lindsay cut in. “We don’t know what his motives are or why he is suddenly taking an interest in the West Coast.  One thing is certain though, he doesn’t want anyone to know he is here.”

Geoff gestured to the map of the city.  “We haven’t been able to pinpoint much so far, but we did discover that a dealer who has connections with Joel had all of their product stolen several days ago.  This helped us to locate at least one neighborhood where Joel has some influence.  Until we find out where he is operating from, however, we aren’t going to be able to act.  The reason I am making some changes in structure is that we need to be on our toes in case he decides to attack.  We don’t know why he is here and until we do I want you to lay low and keep an eye out for any suspicious or unusual gang activity.”

Everyone around the room nodded gravely, mulling over this new information.

Trevor stood up now and began speaking. “For right now, continue going about business as normal.  We are going to be increasing our surveillance of the city, and everyone will probably be assigned to more recon jobs as soon as we have more information.”

“Will do Treyco” said Gavin.

“I will be meeting with the support team tomorrow and give them the same rundown.  Hopefully we will have some more concrete information for you soon.”

“Alright everyone your dismissed for now, except Ryan, I have a task for you.” Geoff gestured for Ryan to come and join him at the front of the room.

Everyone began to disperse from the meeting room, each with varying degrees of worry on their faces.

When Ryan and Geoff were alone, Geoff said “I want you to keep an eye on Brownman.  We think he could be a very valuable asset to us and because you have had the most interaction with him, I want you to be on this job.”

“What do you want me to do exactly?”

“Follow him, find out who else is contracting him, if he is trustworthy, and if his skill is as legendary as rumored.  If we have an attack coming I want to have as many allies as possible.”

Ryan nodded and Geoff dismissed him.  He was glad Geoff only wanted him to gather information for now.  It would be easy enough especially if he was able to starting spending time with Ray as himself.  He could get to know Ray as a person and not just a sniper.

_This will also give me the perfect excuse to make sure he stays out of danger.  If an attack is coming who knows who will end up in the crossfire._

Ryan decided just to head to his home for the rest of the day.  He needed to get ready for his date tonight and he wanted to make sure that all would go smoothly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Date chapter next chapter, get ready for tooth-rotting fluff


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan and Ray go on a date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took longer to write then I would have liked but it was a challenging one for me. I hope you all enjoy how it turned out! As always thanks for the continued support!

Ryan sat on a bench near the entrance to the pier and nervously waited for Ray to show up.  He had spent an hour this afternoon just trying to figure what to wear and decided just to stick with a basic t-shirt, jeans, and a dark leather jacket (though not Vagabond’s).  He didn’t want to overdo it or seem like he was trying too hard.  He had chosen the pier because he thought it would be a good public place to hang out without it feeling too much like a date.  There were a lot of different vendors, games, and rides to check out and the breeze off the ocean created a nice atmosphere in the evening.  This was a place he enjoyed coming late at night, when everything was closed; especially when he needed to calm his nerves after a heist.  He could sit and stare at the ocean for hours.

Just then, he saw Ray appear from the crowded sidewalk and walk toward him.  He was wearing his purple hoodie again, and Ryan realized this must be a new one because the old one would have had a knife sized hole in the arm.  Clearly Ray was dedicated to this style.  Ryan supposed he shouldn’t judge because he himself had an obsession with leather jackets and skulls.

Ryan realized belatedly that he was grinning because Ray walked up to him and said “What are you smiling at?”

Ryan blushed, momentarily embarrassed and said “I’m just happy to see you”.

Ray raised an eyebrow. “Were you afraid I wouldn’t show?”

“No! I just think you look cute today.”

Now it was Ray’s turn to blush.  “Um well, you don’t look bad yourself.  Except for your shoes, they look like they belong to a father with three children and an unfulfilling office job.”

“Hey! I like my shoes!  And at least I don’t dress like a college student who never leaves the house and plays video games all day.”

“Hey well, apparently you’re into it.”  Ray shot him a wink and Ryan’s stomach did a little flip.

They started walking down the pier together, making casual conversation as they walked past stalls selling various things.  Ray got caught up at one stall selling a variety of hats including some flower crowns.

“Do you like flowers?” Ryan asked, curious.

“I like roses” Ray responded simply, before moving on.  Ryan decided he would have to file that information away for later.

~~~

Ray was enjoying the evening so far.  He found Ryan and easy person to talk to and Ryan didn’t wear him out the way other people tended to. Also, the fact that they immediately felt comfortable enough to start poking fun at each other made him feel as if he had known Ryan for years.

They were now walking through the carnival-like games, deciding if they should play any.  Ray pointed at a strength test machine.

“I bet you can’t even get even halfway to the bell.”

“And what if I do?”

Ray considered. “You get a reward or something.”

_There’s no way he’ll actually do it._

Ryan grinned mischievously and said “Challenge accepted”.  He strode confidently over to the machine and inserted a few coins.  He picked up the hammer, readied himself, and brought it crashing into the base of the machine.  The counterweight shot up to the top and loudly rang the bell.  Tickets began to pour out of the machine and Ryan collected them and turned to grin at Ray.  Ray’s mouth dropped open in shock.

“Holy hell dude you didn’t tell me you were secretly superman!”

Ryan scratched his neck sheepishly. “Well you never asked.”  Ray continued staring at him in disbelief and Ryan explained “I work out occasionally.  I like to stay in shape.”

“I’ll say” said Ray, now shaking his head and grinning.

_Goddamn, he can pin me to the wall with those arms anytime._

“Well I won so what’s my reward?”

“Um, I don’t know, I didn’t think that far.”

“How about you go on a second date with me?”

Ray stared at him for a moment and Ryan began to quickly backpaddle. “Uh, that is, if you want to of course.”

Ray smiled at his stuttering and said “Deal.  Now let’s go find some more games for you to obliterate.”

By the end of the evening they finished with an arm’s load of tickets.  Ray had dominated at shooting gallery and a remote-control car race while Ryan had reigned champion at dart throwing and skeeball.  Ray had done his best to hide the discomfort of his injury.  He didn’t want Ryan to start asking questions he didn’t have an honest answer to.  They were both currently chowing down on cotton candy and funnel cake and debating what to do with all their tickets.

“We could buy the entire prize booth with these, or one of those massive bears” Ray said.

Ryan chucked. “Let’s go see what our options are.”

They walked over to one booth that had lots of small plants, terrariums, and fish bowls for prizes.  Ray figured Ryan was looking for an addition to the plant collection he housed in his coffee shop.  To his surprise, Ryan asked the vendor “Do you have any roses?”

The woman considered for a moment then said “Yes but they will cost you quite a few tickets”. 

Without hesitation Ryan put their entire winnings on the counter and said “Give me as many as these tickets can buy.”

She stared at the mountain of tickets before her then busied herself sorting through her supply of plants.  She came back and produced an enormous bouquet of red roses which she handed to Ryan.

“Whoever they are, this is their lucky day” she said winking at Ryan.

Ryan smiled, thanked her for the flowers, and proceeded to turn and hand the bouquet to Ray.  Ray received the flowers staring wide-eyed at Ryan who merely grinned back at him.

“You… you didn’t have to do that” he stuttered out, feeling his face turn red.

“I wanted to” said Ryan, his multi-colored eyes twinkling.  “Besides, you said you love roses.”

Ray smiled back at him. “I do, a lot.  Thank you.” He buried his face in the bouquet, enjoying the scent of the flowers and hiding the blush on his face that wouldn’t go away.

~~~

At the end of the night they sat side by side on the edge of the pier, gazing out over the water.  They had fallen into a companionable silence, which neither of them felt the urge to fill.  Ryan kept stealing glances at Ray as if to make sure he was really there.  He sat there so quietly, slowly running his fingers over the roses in his lap.  Ryan wondered at the last time he had felt so at ease so quickly with another person.  It was rare he trusted someone this quickly, even though he knew that Ray was a renowned and very dangerous sniper.  He saw and appreciated the simple vulnerability of the night they had shared together; both free of their other lives for a moment.

Ray glanced over at him and caught him staring and then quickly glanced away again.  Ryan could tell he was blushing and he couldn’t help but think how cute he looked every time he did that.

“So I know you agreed earlier,” Ryan started, “but I wanted to make sure you really do want to go out again.  I know we only met a week ago but I truly enjoy spending time with you.”

Ray turned back to him and smiled. “I meant what I said earlier; I would love to see you again.  Did you have anything in mind?”

“Well we both like video games a lot so would you want to come to my place and we can play together? Maybe Sunday afternoon, if that’s not too soon? My shop is closed on Sundays.”

“That sounds great to me.  Are you sure you can handle the competition though?  I’m pretty good at what I do.” Ray dramatically cracked his knuckles and waggled his eyebrows at Ryan.

Ryan had the sudden urge to push Ray off the pier into the water but decided against it.  For now. This kid was such a dork.  He instead narrowed his eyes and grinned mischievously at Ray.  “I think I can keep up, scrub.”

Ray burst into laughter and almost fell off the pier himself.  Ryan’s stomach did that little flip again and he couldn’t help laughing along with Ray.

_I might be totally fucked._

“We probably should be heading out soon,” Ryan said.  “The police will come and clear anyone sitting out on the boardwalk this late at night.”

Ray pulled himself together and nodded and they both stood and started walking back toward the street.

“Did you drive here; can I give you a ride home?” Ryan queried.

“That would be great, beats walking that’s for sure.”

“Did you walk all the way here?” Ryan asked incredulously.

“No I took the bus but the last line will be finished by now.”

They walked to where Ryan had parked his car and both climbed inside.

“Dude, your car is fucking sweet.”

Ryan smiled. “Thanks, I put a lot of work into it.”

As they drove to the address Ray had provided to Ryan, he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.  Ray was showing him where he lived without even a second thought.  This was information Ryan would need for later, especially if he had to start following the kid around.  He didn’t feel good about this because if Ray found out he would lose all trust in Ryan.  Ryan knew that sooner or later he was going to have to tell Ray about who he was but that would have to be a very carefully planned conversation.  Ryan tried to shake off the worry for now and enjoy the drive through the city.  He loved the city at night, and having Ray here made it so much better somehow.  He glanced over and saw at some point Ray had fallen asleep in the passenger seat, his bouquet of roses laid carefully across his lap.  He looked so peaceful and Ryan felt a pang of protectiveness over the boy.  When they arrived in front of Ray’s building, Ryan gave Ray a gentle nudge to wake him.  Ray groggily opened his eyes and looked sheepishly over at Ryan.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

Ryan smiled gently. “It’s no problem at all.  Do you need me to walk you up?”

Ray shook his head.  “I’ll be alright, thank you though.  See you Sunday!”

“See you then Ray.”

Ryan watched as Ray disappeared inside the building then slowly began to drive back to his house.

_What am I getting myself into this time._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next, more team used-to-be-better-friends and raywood cuteness. (and don't worry, the angst train will be pulling into town real soon)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray and Michael spend an afternoon together, Ray does some more thievery, and Ryan follows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took events in a bit of a different order than I originally planned but I am ultimately satisfied with it. As always let me know your thoughts! I love hearing from you.

Ray sat on his sofa furiously tapping away at his controller.  He was in high spirits after his date last night and his KD ratio was on fire.  He couldn’t stop running through the events of the previous night and smiling to himself.  He couldn’t wait to see Ryan again and spend more time with him. 

This afternoon he and Michael were supposed to be chilling for a few hours but for once Michael was the one who showed up late.  It was 2:00pm before Ray finally heard Michael’s knock on his apartment door.

“It’s open!” he yelled and Michael let himself in.

“Hey, I’m here.  Sorry for being late.”

“It’s fine man, just next time I am late you can’t say shit.”

Michael rolled his eyes and headed toward Ray’s kitchen to hunt around in the fridge.  He froze when he got to Ray’s tiny kitchen table.

“Who the hell are the roses from?”

Ray felt his face turn red.  He had forgotten about those.  He didn’t turn from the tv as he replied “What, a guy can’t buy himself flowers?”

“You don’t just go and buy yourself two dozen roses on a whim.”

Ray shrugged and said “It’s not like you were going to buy them for me.”

“Ray Narvaez Jr. did you go on a date?! Is this that guy you were texting the other day?!”

Ray cursed Michael’s intuition.  He finally turned to look at Michael “Uhh maybe.”

“What the hell Ray! You didn’t even tell me!”

“It wasn’t a big deal, we just hung out at the pier.”

“Yeah and apparently the guy bought you a fucking bouquet of flowers!”

Ray couldn’t stop the blush from rising to his cheeks.

“Oh my god Ray tell me you at least wore something other than that god-awful purple hoodie.”

Ray narrowed his eyes “Since when do you care what I wear? And for your information this hoodie is a classic.”

Michael rolled his eyes and collapsed on the couch next to Ray, energy drink in hand.  “You really need to warn a guy next time.  I could have saved you from embarrassment.” 

Ray narrowed his eyes at Michael.  “Who says I embarrassed myself?”

Michael just gave him a knowing look and snickered.  “Have you met yourself?”

Ray snickered back and punched Michael in the arm.

“You’re an asshole.”

“Hey I’m just looking out for you, but seriously, congrats.  Make sure you use protection.”

Ray rolled his eyes and turned back to his game.  Now that he was thinking about it Michael’s comment about his clothes seemed odd.  Ray took a moment to study Michael and noticed he was wearing new jeans that looked expensive and his hair wasn’t as unkempt as usual.  When had that changed?  Since when did Michael start caring about his clothes and appearance?  Now that he was thinking back on it Michael had been a lot busier of the past month or so.  Ray had just assumed it was work related.  He narrowed his eyes at Michael for a moment and then turned to focus back on his game.  Seems like he wasn’t the only one whose love life was getting interesting.  He wouldn’t push Michael about it for now.

They hung out for a few hours in their usual manner; playing video games and cracking jokes at the other’s expense.  Ray noticed Michael looking at his phone repeatedly and his expression was growing more and more grim.

“Is everything okay?” Ray eventually asked him after Michael had checked his phone for about the 10th time.

“Something has come up at work, I think I am going to have to go” Michael said, frowning.

“No worries man, do what you gotta do.”

“I’ll text you sometime his week, yeah?”

“You better or I’ll kick your ass.”

Michael snickered. “Like you could Narvaez.” He gave Ray a playful punch on the arm and Ray winced involuntarily in pain.

“Hey man, are you alright?”

Ray tried to laugh it off the best he could.  “Yeah no worries, just bruised my arm the other day.”

Michael seemed to accept that answer and he quickly said goodbye and headed out the door, phone in hand.  It was all very well because Ray had his own plans for tonight.  He needed to refill his drug supply if he was going to be able to meet Joel’s quota by Friday.  It was going to be a stretch with the extra payment he had had to make this week.  He was planning on targeting the group he stole from last time and moving on if they were empty.  They had been poorly defended and careless, and Ray doubted they would expect another attack so soon.  He was concerned about his arm however.  It had been steadily healing but if he had to face any up-close conflict he might be in trouble.  He sighed and started preparing himself for the evening.  He grabbed his pistol rather than his sniper and on a whim, he tucked the Vagabond’s throwing knife into his pocket.  You never knew when these things came in handy.

~~~

On Saturday, Ryan had returned to his shop to find it in surprisingly good shape.  He had expected at least somewhat of a mess after leaving it with Matt and Larry the day before, but it looks like Steffie had worked her magic.  He really should pay her more. 

Today he was joined in the shop by Mica who enjoyed helping out whenever she had time.  She was currently on the phone making calls while she bustled in and out of the kitchen.  Mica had connections, very powerful connections, and although she functioned mainly as a fence for the crew she was constantly networking for Geoff gathering useful information.  The entire situation with Heyman had the crew a bit on edge and everyone was working overtime.

Ryan had spoken with Geoff that morning and it seemed he was trying to plan a trip to meet with Burns and his crew.  Without knowing Heyman’s intentions they wanted to be as prepared as possible for an attack.  Geoff, Lindsay, and Michael would be traveling to Austin sometime this week and the rest of them were on duty on their home turf.

Ryan’s mind went back to Ray again and he couldn’t help but feel concern for the boy.  He didn’t want Ray to somehow end up in the crossfire of all of this.  He was planning on watching Ray tonight and following him to any jobs he might have.  Both to gather information as Geoff had requested and also to make sure that Ray was safe.  He knew it was dangerous letting his emotions get mixed up in this but he tried not to preoccupy himself with that particular dilemma at the moment.

When the evening rolled around, Mica bade him farewell and he closed up the shop.  He headed to the penthouse to don his Vagabond gear which had been left there after his last mission.  As he opened the front door he noticed all the lights were off and figured no one must be home.  He was wrong.  So very, very wrong.  He walked toward the living room and flipped on a light only to discover a disheveled Gavin sandwiched on the couch between Lindsay and Meg.  Meg was currently making out with Gavin, a hand stuffed down the front of his pants while Lindsay was pressed to his back, reaching around him to fondle Meg’s tits while she sucked on Gavin’s neck.  The moment Ryan flipped on the lights Gavin let out a little ‘squawk’ and the three of them immediately broke apart.  Ryan just stood there staring, too shocked to say anything.

_What the hell did I just witness._

“Ry! You’re home!” Meg immediately bounced up from her spot on the couch and came over to greet him as though nothing had happened.  “I just got back this afternoon!”

Ryan continued to stare at Gavin as Meg embraced him.

Gavin looked mortified and his face had turned completely red.  “Look, Ry, it’s not..”

“I don’t even want to know.” Ryan interrupted.  He pulled away from Meg and hurried past them to his room.

_I do not have time to deal with this shit right now._

He quickly put on his face paint, mask, jacket, and some utility pants before grabbing gun and heading back out of the penthouse.  Lindsay tried to say something to him as he passed back through the living room but he ignored her, too embarrassed and too frustrated to talk to her right now.

_If Gavin is cheating on Michael and Jeremy then that’s his business.  I’m staying out of it for now._

He went down to the garage and hopped on his new, shiny chrome motorcycle.  Since he hadn’t been able to locate his old bike he had purchased a new one.  He enjoyed riding it more than driving his car and tried to allow the adrenaline of speeding through the city to wash away his troubled thoughts.

~~~

Ray had been right in his assumptions about the gang he had stolen from before.  They were just as unguarded and reckless as last time and it seemed they had new stock.  He was in and out before anyone ever saw him, making off with a bag full of goods.  He praised himself at his good luck and started heading toward a familiar club to get in a few sales tonight.  As he was walking, however, he became aware of a presence that was steadily following him at a distance.  Trying not to panic, he made a few quick turns and slipped up a service ladder onto the roof of a building.  He knew all access points to the rooftops in this city by heart.  He used his vantage point to try and get a look at who was tailing him.  Whoever they were, they were incredibly cautious.  Ray doubted it was anyone from the gang but somehow that did nothing to sooth his fear.  He waited, and watched the streets below him carefully.  Sure enough, after a few minutes a shadowy figure appeared from around the corner and stalked furtively down the street.  Ray let out a small gasp as the man was momentarily illuminated by a street light.  It was the Vagabond.  Why the hell was the Vagabond following him; seriously what was with this guy?  He sat there trying to calm his thoughts and think of a plan.

~~~

Ryan had followed Ray from his apartment to a shadier side of town where he watched incredulous as Ray slipped in and out of a dingy house, completely unnoticed.

_What does Ray want with a bunch of drugs?_

Ray didn’t seem like an addict to him so the only solution had to be that Ray was reselling them.  But for who? Was he working for someone or did he just want the money?  Ryan thought it seemed awfully foolish to take the risk of stealing another gang’s supply just for some extra cash.  As Ryan followed Ray at a distanced he noticed Ray’s movements became a lot erratic.  He started ducking around corners without warning and quickening his steps.  Ryan realized Ray must know he was being followed.

_Shit, I should have been more careful._

He should have given Ray more credit; he hadn’t thought Ray would notice him this quickly.  Ray ducked around another corner and this time when Ryan went to follow he lost track of him.

_Fuck, where did he disappear to?_

Ryan began to cautiously scan the street, moving to check adjoining alleyways for signs of the sniper.  After looking for several minutes he was about to give up the trail when he heard a gunshot.  He ran to the source of the noise only to be met with a dead-end alley.  Confused, he scanned the alleyway carefully, looking for where the disruption could have come from. He then noticed that one of the large wooden crates stacked against the wall had a piece of paper attached to the side by a knife.  His knife.  He went over and pulled the knife out of the wood and picked up the note.

_I don’t know what you want or why you are following me_  
but kindly fuck off.  If you want your bike it is in an abandoned   
lot at the corner of westview and sycamore.  
 ~Brownman

Ryan almost had to laugh at the note.  Knowing the small Puerto Rican man behind the words made it that much funnier and completely non-threatening.  He realized he had been duped and that Ray had to be long gone by now.  He belatedly took notice of the ladder attached to the side of the building and reminded himself he needed to start keeping his eyes up.  He turned the knife over in his hands, recognizing it as the one that he had thrown at Ray.  There was something off about it however.  As he ran his fingers down the sides he noticed there was another engraving in addition to the small skull he himself had put there.  He brought the knife into the streetlight for a better look and noticed a small rose was haphazardly etched into the side of the knife opposite the skull.  He smiled to himself and tucked the knife away separate from his others.  This one he wouldn’t be throwing at anyone anytime soon.

He sighed and decided to give up his mission for the night.  He figured he might as well go and try and find his bike since Ray had been so kind as to tell him where it was.  He supposed he didn’t even need it now that he had bought a new one.  Maybe he would give it to Jeremy; he had been talking about buying a bike sometime.

As he took off into the night once again, he tried not to think too much about the events of earlier this evening.  Instead he focused on tomorrow and his second date with Ray.  He was looking forward to spending time together and getting to know more about Ray.  It seemed there was even more to Ray than Ryan realized and Ryan was curious about what had brought him to this city in the first place.  Also, the thought of seeing Ray smile at him again made his heart lurch in anticipation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some more fluff next chapter and setup for big things to come. Stay tuned!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray and Ryan spend time together and take their relationship to a new level

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off I want to apologize for the lack of updates for almost two weeks. I swore I wouldn't let this happen and well, here we are. Life got busy and I struggled with some elements of this chapter. I ended up rewriting this it several times before I was satisfied. Anyways thanks for sticking with me, I really appreciate your support! I hope you enjoy what I have for you this chapter ;)  
> My plan for the next update is for it to be either Saturday or Sunday so keep your eyes peeled.

Ray groaned as he awoke Sunday morning, cursing the tension in his muscles.  After he had given Vagabond the slip last night, he decided to return home and crash.  He was getting fed up with running away from this freak; what did the man want with him anyway? He hoped that now that he had his bike back he would leave Ray alone.  Ray had left the knife as an afterthought, a small way to spite the Vagabond.

Ray reluctantly pulled himself out of bed and started getting ready for the day.  His arm was sore from climbing last night and he was worried he may have pushed himself too far.  He decided to sacrifice a small portion of the weed he had stolen to ease his discomfort.  He climbed out his window and settled against the rails of the fire escape.  The morning autumn air was chilly and he shivered slightly, drawing hood up.  He carefully packed a bowl and lit it up, letting the drug wash over his body and relax him.  He closed his eyes and tried to push away all his worrisome thoughts.  When he evaluated everything, he concluded that he was doing okay.  He was making enough money to keep Joel off his back and he hadn’t made a major slip up on a job.  He had met Ryan, who was making his life a lot happier than before.  He had to admit that things could be worse, _had_ been worse. 

One thought he couldn’t seem to shake was the nagging issue of the Vagabond.  Had he done something to anger the Fakes and hadn’t realized it?  He couldn’t imagine what.  Suddenly a horrifying thought occurred to him.  What if Joel had hired the Vagabond to follow him?  He knew that Joel didn’t trust him, but Joel already had him on such a short leash; was it necessary to know Ray’s every move?  Everyone knew that the Vagabond had taken independent contracts before joining with the Fakes so who is to say he didn’t still? Ray took another deep pull off the bowl and tried to steady his nerves.  The only way he would get answers would be to confront the Vagabond or to confront Joel and he wasn’t sure which was more terrifying.

Just them his phone buzzed and he saw he had a text from Ryan.

**Ryan: Do you need a ride today?**

Ray considered for a moment.  He supposed it beat walking or taking the bus, especially while he was riding a high.

**Ray: Sure, that would be great.**

**Ryan: I’ll be there in an hour.**

Ray sat out on the fire escape a while longer until the outside air began to chill his bones. He finally pulled himself back in through the window and started looking for clean clothes.

_I should have taken Michael’s offer to do my laundry._

He managed to find an old sweatshirt that didn’t smell too rank and quickly pulled it on.  He gathered up his keys and phone and headed downstairs.  Ryan’s car sat out by the curb, looking slightly out of place in Ray’s dingy neighborhood.  Ray walked to the passenger door and climbed inside.

“Thanks for the ride” he said in greeting.

Ryan smiled. “No problem at all.  How are you doing?”

Ray smiled lazily at him and said “I’m better now that you are here.”  He attempted a wink in Ryan’s direction and Ryan raised an eyebrow at him.

“Are you high?”

Ray shrugged. “Only a little.”

Ryan shook his head and turned back to the road, a fond smile tugging at his lips.

“Is this normal for you?” he asked.

“Is it a deal breaker if it is?” Ray asked back.  “And to answer your question, it depends on the kind of day I’m having.”

“It’s not a deal breaker” Ryan said.  “I was just curious.”

They rode in companionable silence and Ray looked over to fully take in Ryan’s appearance.  Ryan was wearing the most Dad sweater Ray could imagine with jeans to complete the look.

_This guy is such a dork._ Ray smiled to himself.  _A dork that I have a mega gay crush on._

~~~

About twenty minutes later Ryan pulled into the driveway of a ranch style home in the middle of suburbia.  Ryan had purchased this house a few years ago when he had first opened his coffee shop.  It was his retreat away from his life of crime; a place where he was just Ryan, a mild-mannered barista from central Georgia.  Of course, he couldn’t always keep his lives from bleeding into one another.  His house was occasionally used as a safe house for the crew when other options weren’t available.  Ryan spent about half of his time here and half at the penthouse, depending on how busy the crew was.  As he parked his car in the garage Ray gave him a disbelieving look.

“Dude, are you sure you aren’t hiding a wife and kids somewhere?  This place screams family of four.”

Ryan laughed and said “I like this house.  It’s simple and it fits my needs.  Plus, I can keep a garden out back.”

“You really like your plants, don’t you?”

Ryan smiled sheepishly. “You caught me.”

Ryan’s house was simple and neat; the main decoration being his myriad of plants.  He had two bedrooms, one of which was currently being used as an office.  Ryan loved his house despite its smallness.  The crew had frequently tried to convince him to move completely into the penthouse or at least to buy a larger place close to downtown but Ryan refused to give this house up.

Ray had moved into Ryan’s living room and plopped himself down on the couch.

“Dude you have a sweet setup, how many consoles do you have?”

“Uh just the latest Xbox and PlayStation, I actually prefer to play on PC.”

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”  Ray picked up a controller and set about logging himself into his gamer tag on Ryan’s Xbox.  “Gotta keep building my score” he said in explanation.

Ryan stared at the six-digit number on the screen.  “You have got to be kidding me.”

Ray grinned maniacally. “Noope, that’s all me baby.”

Ryan also noted with a touch of humor that Ray’s gamer tag was Brownman.  It seemed Ray didn’t care much for subtlety.

They started up a modern warfare match and proceeded to cycle through multiple shooters over the course of the afternoon.  Ray is very good, unsurprisingly, and Ryan finds himself with some stiff competition.

“Maybe we should switch to a cooperative game?” he suggests mildly.

“What Haywood, can’t take the heat?” Ray elbows him in the ribs and grins mischievously.

Ryan looks at him flatly and then curses as Ray headshots him (again) in his momentary distraction.  Ray starts laughing and Ryan throws down his controller.

“That’s it” he says as he tackles Ray and begins to tickle his ribs.

“S-stop” Ray pleads as he laughs uncontrollably.  He tried to shove Ryan away but Ryan is too strong.  He manages to get a jab in-between Ryan’s ribs and grins victoriously at Ryan’s yelp of surprise.  Ryan reflexively grabs Ray’s arm and pins it down to keep it from reaching him.  Ray suddenly lets out a pained noise and grimaces as Ryan puts pressure on his injured arm.  Ryan realizes his mistake and immediately releases Ray.  Concern floods through him and he asks “Are you okay? I’m sorry I didn’t mean to..”

“It’s fine” Ray cuts him off, rubbing his arm and clearly trying to conceal his discomfort.

“Really, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you, I..” Ray interrupts him again by leaning forward and pulling Ryan down for a kiss.  Ryan sits there stunned and before he can react Ray pulls away.  Ray blushes profusely and looks down as Ryan tries to form some semblance of a coherent thought.

“Look uhh.. I just wanted to stop you from apologizing.  I’m really okay…” Ray trails off.

Ryan is still reeling from the kiss and feels guilt wash over him because all of this is his fault and Ray still has no idea.  If only he could say something.  Before Ryan can stop himself, he is placing a hand gently under Ray’s chin and lifting his face up to kiss him again.  Ray responds immediately, melting into the kiss and looping his hands behind Ryan’s neck.  Ryan takes in the scent, the feel of Ray and absorbs as much as he can.  He wants to immortalize this moment.  He takes his other hand and gently weaves his fingers into Ray’s loose curls, holding him close.  Ray kisses him feverishly, holding onto Ryan’s sweater as he pulls himself up into Ryan’s lap.  He doesn’t break the contact between them and takes the opportunity to deepen the kiss, letting Ryan’s tongue skate over his teeth and explore his mouth.  Ryan places his hands gently on Ray’s waist, admiring just how small the other man is.  He wants to take his hands and run them against Ray’s skin underneath his sweatshirt but he stops himself.  He wants to take his time with Ray; he doesn’t want to rush this.

After a few minutes, they break apart, both breathing heavily.  Ray closes his eyes and rests his forehead against Ryan’s and Ryan finds that he cannot stop himself from smiling widely.  He leans back and finds that Ray is grinning too.

“So… that was…”

“Amazing?” Ray provides.

“Yeah” Ryan says shyly, gently running his hand in circles on Ray’s back.

After a moment, Ray moves off his lap and settles down next to him, nestling himself into Ryan’s side.  Ryan loops an arm around Ray’s shoulders and they both let out a contented sigh.

“So... what does this mean for us?” Ray asks tentatively.

Ryan thinks for a moment and then says “Well, I uh, would like to ask you to be my boyfriend, if you’re not opposed to the idea?”

Ray grins up at him and says “Not opposed at all.”

They end up remaining cuddled on the couch for the rest of the evening, until Ryan drives Ray back to his apartment.  His heart is lighter than it has felt in a long time.  He can’t stop thinking about Ray and when he will see him again.  He hopes he hasn’t rushed into this too quickly but the timing just feels right.  There will come a time when he must come clean with Ray, but he hopes that when that moment arrives, Ray will trust him enough to understand.

When he arrives back home, he notices he has several texts from Lindsay and a missed call from Meg.  He frowns, having forgotten about what had happened Friday night and realizes they must be trying to make their excuses.  They probably want to make sure he hasn’t talked to Michael or Jeremy.  He shuts his phone off, not wanting to have to deal with it right now.  Nothing can sour his mood.  He lays in bed and falls asleep basking in his happy memories from today and his hope for what this next week may hold.

~~~

Throughout the rest of the week, Ray and Ryan texted one another constantly and Ray finds himself in Ryan’s coffee shop more days than not.  They talk with avid interest, sharing their lives and learning about one other.  Despite their impassioned kiss on Sunday, they keep their physical contact to a minimum at first.  They are both cautious with one other and take their time merely getting to know one another better.  Ray’s constant presence at the coffee shop is starting to cause raised eyebrows between the other employees.  They know something is going on but keep silent for the time being.  Ryan will bring it up when he wants to.

Ray was heading back to his apartment Thursday evening after having been at Ryan’s shop that afternoon until closing.  He had started bringing his DS with him to play while Ryan served customers and during the down times he and Ryan made conversation.  He loved spending time in the calm atmosphere of the shop.  Afterwards, Ray had been going out every night to make sales, and he thought he should have just enough money for his payment tomorrow. 

As Ray reached his apartment door, he noticed it was unlocked.  He frowned, trying to remember if he had locked it after himself when he had left earlier that day.  It didn’t look as if anyone had forced the door open or tampered with the lock, but nevertheless Ray entered his apartment with caution.  He instinctively reached for a utility knife he kept with him, regretting that he didn’t have his pistol.  His apartment was completely dark as he entered and Ray cautiously and quietly moved into the living room.  He froze when he noticed the silhouette of a man sitting on his couch.  He reached over and quickly flicked on the light, brandishing his knife in front of him.  The figure on the couch turned then, smiling sardonically at him and Ray’s blood froze in fear.

“Well hello there Ray.  Let’s have a little chat, shall we?” said Joel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand with that I take my leave. Let me know what you thought ;)
> 
> Also if I did not mention before, you can find me at http://thesniperandtheskeleton.tumblr.com


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray has a bad night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy strap yourself in folks, this is going to be a very angsty chapter. (longest one yet I might add)
> 
> Please mind the warnings on this chapter, next one should be posted on Wednesday or Thursday depending on my schedule.

Ray stood staring at Joel, too shocked and paralyzed with fear to move.  Joel continued to smile contemptuously at him and gestured for Ray to join him on the couch.  Ray stayed where he was and said “What the hell are you doing here? How did you get into my apartment?”

Joel scoffed. “I wanted to have a little talk with you, and I hope you don’t pride yourself on your home security, it was painfully easy to get into this place.”

Ray glowered at him and continued to brandish his knife in front of himself.  “Get out now.”

Joel rolled his eyes and slowly stood up from his spot on the couch.  He sauntered over to Ray saying “I don’t think you understand how this is going to work.”  As Joel approached, Ray found he still couldn’t move, his entire body paralyzed in trepidation.  Joel gently placed his hand over the hand that held Ray’s knife and then quickly wrenched the knife away, flinging it with expert precision into the wall.  Ray continued to stand there stunned, cursing his inability to do anything.  Joel’s smile only grew wider at Ray’s fearful expression and he looped an arm around Ray’s shoulders and steered him toward the couch.

“You see Ray, I thought we had our little arrangement all worked out.  You continue to pay back the debt you owe me, and I leave you in peace.”

As they approached the couch Ray noticed for the first time what was spread out over the coffee table.  It was what was left of the drugs he had stolen earlier that week.  He looked at Joel in confusion and Joel’s expression grew dark.  He pushed Ray none too gently onto the couch and then sat down next to him.

“I was wondering how you had been making my payments with so little trouble.  I have been tracking your contracts and I know business hasn’t been great for you lately.” 

Ray scowled at him.  “Was that your fault?”

Joel shrugged, brushing off Ray’s accusation and continued. “But then you see, one of my dealers was robbed a couple weeks ago and I didn’t think much of it until it happened again.” Ray’s blood turned to ice and he glanced guilty at the baggies of pills and plastic-wrapped packages on his coffee table.  “You know I expected you would eventually break my trust again, but I never thought it would so underhanded.”

“I swear I didn’t know! I had no idea they worked for you” Ray said, panicked.

Joel scoffed, “Like I would believe you now, but even if you didn’t know the damage is still done.”

Just then Adam appeared in the doorway of Ray’s bedroom, holding Ray’s pink sniper rifle.  “Found it, he didn’t even bother to put it away properly.”

Ray glared at Adam. “Put my rifle down.”

Joel laughed and said “You are in no position to be making demands sweetheart.”  He looked at Adam and asked “Is it the same one?”

Adam had been scratching away at the paint on the stock of the rifle and he nodded in confirmation.  “It appears to be.”  He began to take the rifle apart carelessly, tossing the pieces onto the coffee table alongside the drugs.

“Stop it!” Ray yelled, moving to grab his rifle from Adam but Joel grabbed Ray’s injured arm and pulled him back before he could get far.  Ray let out a pained noise and collapsed back onto the couch.  Adam reached over and handed the detached rifle stock to Joel.  Joel examined where the paint had been chipped away and ran his finger over the rose that was engraved in the metal.

“It seems you kept the same rifle all this time; a little token to remember me by I suppose.”

Ray tried to grab the piece from him but Joel tossed it onto the table with the rest of the parts.

“What do you want from me?” Ray asked, continuing to glare at Joel.

“Oh quite a few things,” Joel said.  “Let’s start with some information.”  Joel stood up moved toward the kitchen.  Ray watched as Joel pulled a dying rose from the vase on his table.  “You see it seems you have found someone new to whore yourself out to.  I really shouldn’t be surprised; you were always so desperate for attention.” Joel began to pluck the petals from the rose and drop them carelessly onto floor as he slunk back toward Ray.  “Tell me who it is and I might let you off easy.” 

Ray shook his head, watching in anger as Joel destroyed his rose.  “It doesn’t matter who, leave them out of this.” 

Joel chuckled and shook his head.  “We can do this the easy way or the hard way but in the end, you will tell me what I want to know.” 

Ray saw then a dark jealousy thinly veiled behind Joel’s sardonic expression.  He realized that he could never let Joel find out about Ryan, if he did, Joel would do all he could to tear them apart.  He refused to drag Ryan into the mess he had created for himself.  He stared as defiantly as he could back at Joel and said “I will never tell you.”  Joel merely sighed and gestured behind him with the now barren rose stem.  “Adam, get me his phone.”  Ray realized at once what Joel was about.  Before Adam could react, Ray darted past him and ran for the bathroom.  He whipped his phone out of his pocket and made it to the bathroom doorway before a hand grabbed the back of his hoodie.  Ray flailed for a moment and before Adam could wrestle control of him, he flung his cell phone as hard as he could toward the toilet.  It smacked into the rim with a _crack_ and fell into the basin of water.  Adam flung Ray to the floor where he collapsed and immediately went to pluck Ray’s phone out of the toilet.  He cursed as he realized the phone was now cracked and waterlogged beyond repair.  Ray picked himself up off the floor and tried to get away but Adam caught his arm and marched him back toward the living room.

“He destroyed it” Adam said angrily as he pushed Ray back toward the couch and dropped the damaged cell phone onto the table with the rest of the mess.  Ray took the opportunity to retaliate again.  He quickly grabbed the barrel of his rifle from the table and started to swing wildly at Adam.  Adam seemed to expect this however, and he deftly clamped down on Ray’s arm, twisting it behind his back and forcing him to drop the barrel.  Joel was in front of him then, sneering down at Ray’s struggling figure.  “I don’t think you realize just how much trouble you have gotten yourself into.  I let you go with your plan until now but it seems we will be switching to mine.  If you continue to fight back, this will only get worse for you.” 

Ray struggled against Adam’s hold, gasping as his injured arm was strained.  Joel seemed to notice Ray’s pain and smiled sadistically.  “Did you injure yourself baby?” He reached out and tightly squeezed Ray’s right arm.  Ray let out an involuntary yelp of pain fought harder to free himself from Adam’s grasp.  

“Let him go Adam, I’ll handle this from here.”  A look passed between Joel and Adam that Ray couldn’t read and then Adam released him, shoving him forward into Joel’s arms.  Adam left without saying a word, closing the door to Ray’s apartment.  Ray immediately righted himself, moving away from Joel and wrapping his arms protectively around himself.  He knew there was no sense in trying to run now, not with Joel right here and Adam probably guarding the door.

“Sit” Joel said and his tone left no room for argument.  Ray sat back down on the couch and moved as far away from Joel as possible.  Joel sighed and sat there examining Ray for a long moment.  “I don’t know why I ever thought I could allow you independence.  When I found you in this hell hole of a city I should have dragged you back to New York right away.”  Ray didn’t say anything, his fear and anger winding into an anxious knot in his stomach.  He did his best to avoid making eye contact with Joel.  “I can't let this behavior go unpunished.  You still have debt to pay off so we will have to setup a new arrangement since the current one is clearly no longer going to work.”

Ray couldn't hold back his anger anymore. “You don't own me! You don't just get to control my life! This is why I left in the first place!”

Joel continued to examine him evenly, unmoved by Ray’s outburst.  “Are you implying that I didn't take good care of you? That I never gave you whatever you wanted? I helped you pay off men who would have killed you and this is how you thanked me? By running away and digging yourself into a deeper hole?  I tried to let you do things your way but you betrayed me again.”

Ray clutched his arms protectively around himself and shook his head at Joel’s biting words. He hated the way Joel could manipulate his emotions and make him second guess himself.

“Here’s what I propose.” Joel leaned forward and cupped his hand under Ray’s chin, forcing him to make eye contact.  It was a crude parallel of Ryan’s gesture that previous Sunday.  “I will give you one more opportunity to make this up to me, and if not you can come back and work for me to pay off your debt.”

Ray stared at Joel uncomprehendingly for a moment before Joel’s meaning registered with him.  He began to shake his head “Joel no, please. I don't.. I can't..”

Joel smiled “I guess we will have to see, how about you start convincing me otherwise?”  He moved his arms to loop under Ray’s and around his waist.  He began to firmly pull Ray into his lap and Ray started to panic.

“Joel stop, please!” He pushed his hands against Joel's chest to prevent them from moving closer together.

“Shhh baby, didn't you miss me? I know I missed you.” Joel gripped Ray’s waist tighter and ran a hand up Ray’s back.

“Joel please, don't make me do this.” Ray's voice began to shake and he continued trying to push Joel away.

“I think if you really didn't want this you would be trying harder to escape little Ray.”  Joel quickly pushed Ray off his lap and onto his back.  He took one hand and pinned both of Ray’s and ran his other hand down Ray’s side.  He leaned down to kiss Ray then, his mouth aggressively trying to claim Ray’s.  Ray resisted, moving his head to the side to avoid Joel and trying to bite Joel’s lip.  He hated how Joel was manipulating him again.  He hated the familiar feel of Joel’s hands on his body.  Joel pulled back slightly after a moment and frowned.

“I told you this was your last chance to make it up to me Ray and it seems you aren't taking me very seriously.  If you don't stop fighting, I'll just call Adam back in here and we will bring you back with us.”  He smirked at the look of terror that passed over Ray’s face. “And don't you want to see your _boyfriend_ again?”

That was what finally broke Ray.  He wanted to fight Joel so badly but he knew there was no way out of this situation.  At least if he did this, Joel would let him keep his small measure of independence.  He didn't believe that Joel would just let the whole ’boyfriend’ issue drop but he would have to worry about that later.

Joel was growing impatient. “Well what’s it going to be? Are you going to be a good little boy for me?”

Ray slowly nodded his head, not making eye contact.

Joel gave him a little slap on the cheek.  “Uh uh sweetheart, that's now how this works, try again.”

Ray gritted his teeth and looked at Joel. “Yes” he spat out.

“Yes what?”

“Yes I'll be good.”

“A good what baby, come on.”

Ray’s face flushed with embarrassment as he said “Yes I'll be a good little boy.”

Joel grinned triumphantly down at him and Ray hated himself even more for giving into Joel’s little game.  Joel moved from on top of him then and gestured for Ray to get up.  “Let’s get rid of these pesky clothes.”  He sat back, clearly expecting for Ray to do it himself.  Ray sat up and began to pull off first his hoodie and then his t-shirt.  Ray stopped when he got to his pants and looked at Joel.  Joel merely raised an eyebrow, waiting for Ray to continue.  Ray stood up and pulled down his jeans, face flaming in embarrassment.  It had been a long time since he had let anyone see him like this.  When he stood there in just his boxers, Joel smiled appreciatively and said “Come here baby.”  Ray grimaced at Joel’s sickly sweet tone and reluctantly moved forward into Joel’s arms.  Joel grabbed him around the waist and positioned Ray so that his legs straddled Joel’s lap.  Joel’s hands squeezed possessively around Ray’s waist and he began to run his hands up and down Ray’s body.  Ray rested his hands on Joel’s shoulders and tried not to think about what Joel was doing or how it was making him feel. 

“You’ve lost weight” Joel noted.  “And this injury,” Joel moved his hand up to Ray’s bandage.  “Who did this to you baby?”  Ray lowered his head avoiding Joel’s gaze. 

“It was.. it was the Vagabond.” 

Joel leaned back in surprise.  “Vagabond?  What did you do to piss off Ramsey?”  Joel pressed a thumb into Ray’s bandage causing him to let out an involuntary gasp of pain.  Joel smirked and said “This is why you need to let me take care of you baby.  You clearly can’t handle being on your own.”  Ray jerked his arm away and said “I was fine before you showed up; I don’t need you to coddle me.”

Joel’s face darkened and he said “Oh really? You don’t need me?  Look at yourself Ray, still in debt and sitting here like a whore in order to make it up to me.”  He grasped Ray’s hair and pulled back so that he could lean forward into Ray’s neck.  Ray tried to wriggle out of his grasp but Joel help him tighter and said in a low voice “You better start behaving because my patience has about worn out.”

Ray forced himself to stop fighting Joel’s grasp and he took a deep breath to keep himself from panicking.  Joel began to kiss his neck, biting and sucking and obviously not caring if he left marks.  He kept a firm grip on Ray’s hair but moved his other hand down to begin pinching Ray’s nipples.  Ray did his best to stifle the noises that were fighting to escape his throat.  He hated this, hated Joel, hated himself for letting Joel do this.  Why did his body still react this way to him? 

Joel moved his mouth up to press against Ray’s, and Ray didn’t move, refusing to kiss him.  Joel continued to press and bite at his lips and when Ray still didn’t react he gripped Ray’s injury again causing Ray to let out another gasp of pain.  Joel took the opportunity to push his tongue into Ray’s mouth and Ray knew better than to fight it.  Joel began to slowly grind up against him and he moved both of his hands down to grip Ray’s ass.  Ray let out an involuntary moan and he could feel Joel smirk against his lips.  After a few minutes Joel pulled back and said “Get across my lap.”  Ray looked at him confused and that earned him a slap across the face.  “Now, slut.  Don’t make me tell you again.”  Ray fought the tears trying to rise up and obediently laid himself across Joel’s lap.  Joel gripped his ass tightly for a moment before pulling Ray’s boxers down.  Ray realized now what Joel was about and immediately tried to move away.

“No Joel wait! I said I’d be good!”

Joel slapped him firmly across his cheeks and Ray let out a yelp of pain.  “You will be good and take the punishment you deserve.  You didn’t think I would let you off so easy?”

Ray shook his head and buried his face into the couch.

“Good now I want you to count for me.  You remember how this works.”

Ray nodded and hated the fact that he did remember, all too well.  The memories paired with his current pain were almost too much to bear.  Joel struck him hard and Ray gasped out “One!”  “Good boy.”  Joel rubbed his cheek before striking it again.  “Two!” Ray said through clenched teeth.  They continued in this manner for four more strikes and Ray could barely keep himself from crying.  “Seven!”  He gasped out, burying his face in his arms.  Joel grabbed his hair and pulled his face up.  “Aw baby you have to let me hear those pretty noises.  Are you going to cry for me?”  He struck Ray again and Ray sobbed out “Eight!” no longer able to control himself.  “There we go, you know you are so pretty when you cry.”  Ray’s face burned in humiliation and he braced himself just trying to bear through until the end.  Joel hit him twice more and he finally let Ray’s head collapse back into the couch. 

Despite the pain and humiliation, Ray could feel himself fully hard against Joel’s thigh and he cursed his body’s reaction to this man.  It seemed it hadn’t escaped Joel’s notice either.  “Aww it looks like little Ray enjoyed that.”  He spread Ray’s ass apart and began to circle a finger around his hole before pushing it in dry.  Ray gasped, unprepared for the intrusion.  “So tight baby, looks like you haven’t let anyone use you in a while.  All the better for me.”  He began to pump his finger in and out of Ray’s ass and Ray grimaced at the friction.  After a moment Joel stopped and pulled Ray’s underwear completely off him.  He maneuvered Ray so he was once again straddled across his lap.  Ray look at him panicked.  “But wait, I’m not..” Joel cut him off.  “You are going to prep yourself for me.”  Joel took his middle and index finger and pushed them into Ray’s mouth.  “Suck.”  Ray reluctantly began to comply, knowing there was no way out of it.  Joel pushed his fingers in roughly, causing Ray to gag slightly.  Joel smiled.  “I’ve missed that mouth of yours.  I will have to make good use of it again sometime.”  Ray tried not to think about the foreboding sound of those words and continued to suck humiliatingly on Joel’s fingers, coating them in saliva.  Joel eventually pulled them out and positioned them against Ray’s hole.  Ray began to squirm away again but Joel held him firmly.  “Stretch yourself out for me.”  Ray slowly began to lower himself and push against Joel’s fingers.  He gasped as they breached his rim, stretching him uncomfortably.  He moved as slowly as he dared, trying to adjust the uncomfortable intrusion.  Joel, growing impatient, pushed his fingers farther in causing Ray to groan.  “Fuck yourself for me.”  Ray did as he was told and started pumping himself up and down.  Joel quickly added a third to join the first two and Ray gasped in pain, trying to pull away again.  Joel slapped his ass and Ray quickly began to fuck himself again, tears still leaking from his eyes.  Joel leaned back to admire the sight in front of him.  “Look at you, such a good slut for me, fucking yourself on my fingers.”  All Ray could do was let out a small sob as he was stretched out and humiliated.  Finally, Joel pulled his fingers out and pushed them into Ray’s mouth.  Ray grimaced and choked and Joel laughed at his discomfort.  Joel reached down and began to undo his belt and pants and Ray had to try hard again not to panic.  Ray moved off his lap so Joel could pull off his pants and underwear but Joel immediately pulled him back so Ray was straddling him again.  He sat there, stroking himself, clearly waiting for Ray to get started.  Ray’s face burned even hotter as he spread himself and slowly lowered onto Joel’s cock.  He thought it would have been better if Joel had just held him down and forced him because the humiliation of willingly fucking himself on Joel’s cock was almost too much to bear.  He groaned as Joel entered him, the stretch painful from lack of preparation.  He knew this was what Joel wanted though.  He only made it halfway down before he had to stop.  The pain was too much.  Joel gripped his hips tightly and began to push further into him.  “All the way down baby, you can do it.”  He forced Ray to lower himself until he was fully seated inside Ray.  Joel let out a long groan and said “Such a tight little boy for me.”  He lifted Ray up and slammed his hips back down causing Ray to let out a cry of pain.  “Come on baby, show me how well you can fuck yourself.”  Ray forced himself to pull up and bring himself back down, continuing at a slow pace until Joel slapped his ass again and forced him to go faster.  Ray began to sob again as he fucked himself, knowing what he must look like straddled across Joel’s lap.  Joel shifted his hips and when he came back down Ray gasped as a new part of him was reached.  Joel smiled and began to buck up into Ray, causing him to moan.  “Aww looks like you enjoyed that.  Come on baby are you going to come for me?”  He finally reached a hand to stroke Ray’s own cock and Ray sobbed harder with the pleasure he was finally receiving.  Joel continued to fuck up into him at a furious pace at it wasn’t long before Ray felt himself on the edge.  “Joel please I, I need to cum..”  Joel’s pace slowed and he slapped Ray across the face.  “You think this is about you now?”  Ray cried as he said “No! No! please I..”  Joel slapped him again and Ray let out a choked sob.  “You will make me cum first and if I think you did a good enough job, then you may beg to cum.”  Ray nodded furiously and began to fuck himself harder onto Joel’s cock.  It wasn’t long before Joel groaned and gripped Ray’s hips, fucking into him before finally holding him close as he came deep inside of Ray.  Ray was hypersensitive now from holding back and he was beginning to lose control.  “Joel please, I’ve been so good, please let me cum, please!”  Joel smirked, lazily stroking Ray, his cock still in Ray’s ass.  “Are you going to be a good boy for me Ray?  Are you going to keep disobeying me?”  Ray shook his head.  “No I promise!  I’ll be a good boy please!  Please let me cum!”  Joel seemed to accept that and he began to stroke Ray quickly.  Ray sobbed as he came into Joel’s hand, his body and his emotions exhausted.  He collapsed forward onto Joel, not having any more energy. 

Joel reached over and wiped his hand off on Ray’s discarded shirt.  Ray finally pulled himself up off Joel and winced at the pain shooting through his sore body.  He didn’t look at Joel as he began to pick up his clothes and move back toward his bathroom.  Joel redressed himself and quietly followed Ray back to the bathroom, pulling a sealed bag with a damp cloth out of his pocket.  He quickly moved up behind Ray and before Ray could react he pressed the cloth over Ray’s nose and mouth.  Ray’s eyes widened as he realized what was happening.  He began to struggle but it was too late and after a few long seconds he collapsed to the ground and everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed, let me know what you thought! ;)
> 
> (p.s. sorry Joel is such a douche-canoe)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geoff and Ryan make a plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, long time no see! I want to start off by apologizing for my absence. A lot of things came up in my life and I ran out of free time to dedicate to working on the fic. I do have every intention of finishing however. I have reread back through the whole thing to try and assure I do a good job pulling this story together. I do have a plan, and the next several chapters need to be edited but will be ready to go for the next few updates. This chapter was originally much longer but I felt that it would be best to split it into two (also to keep you in suspense). I hope you will enjoy, thanks for your patience with me!

Ryan was having a better week than he had had in a long time.  Ray had been coming to visit him every day at his coffee shop and stayed for at least a few hours each time.  He could hardly believe his luck meeting Ray; and now he was his boyfriend.  He had never felt this strongly about another person before.  Ray instantly made his day better and something about him seemed to take Ryan’s mind away from all his other worries.

Ryan arrived home Thursday after closing up his shop and saying goodbye to Ray.  He had been returning to his house the majority of the week, doing his best to avoid Gavin, Meg, and Jeremy at the penthouse.  Geoff, Michael, and Lindsay were still out of town, due to be back on Saturday.  The rest of the crew had been assigned various tasks to complete until their leader returned.  Ryan had been dutifully keeping an eye on Ray, being extra careful to stay out of sight.  The job had become easier considering he saw Ray almost every day.  Ray seemed to have a pattern to his nighttime activities.  He made a circuit of various clubs and bars, selling the drugs he had pilfered the week before.  As far as Ryan knew, Ray hadn’t been receiving any more sniping contracts and he never reported back to anyone after making sales.  Ryan concluded that the dealing must be to augment his income because he couldn’t think of why else Ray would be doing it.

Ryan collapsed onto his couch when he got home and pulled out his phone.  He noticed he had another missed call from Meg, which he decided to ignore, and a missed call from Lindsay.  He sighed and called Lindsay back.  It could be work related and he didn’t want to risk ignoring it and missing something important.  Or pissing Geoff off.  Lindsay picked up the phone almost immediately.

“Ryan, finally decide to return my calls?”

Ryan got straight down to business.  “What do you need?”

He heard Lindsay let out a frustrated breath and then put on her business voice.  “We have just finished work in Austin and on our way to Los Angeles.  Geoff wants to check in with the Fakehaus crew before we come back to home base.  We are expected to arrive back on Saturday so be prepared for a debrief meeting on Sunday.”

“Understood.  Were you able to learn anything useful?”

“Burns couldn’t tell us much we didn’t already know.  He claims he hasn’t been in contact with Joel personally and he only knew that Joel was heading to Los Santos for unknown reasons.  We think we might know of a neighborhood where some of his underlings are set up and I have B-team working on pinpointing a more precise location.  We will talk more about this when we get back.”

“What do you want from me then?”

“Geoff wants a status update on the situation in the city.  Has there been any unusual activity or disturbances?”

Ryan thought this seemed like something they should be contacting Trevor or Jack about but he didn’t say anything.  He was guessing Lindsay was using this as an excuse to talk to him.

“As far as I know everything has been quiet here.  We will let you know if anything comes up before you return.”

“Well I’m not sure the quiet is good or bad but let’s hope it stays that way.  How is your other assignment coming along?”

Ryan considered his words carefully before replying.  “I’ve been monitoring Brownman’s activity and I haven’t run into anything concerning.  I think that he could be a good addition to our network if we can get him on our side.  I actually need to talk to Geoff about that, can you pass me over to him if he’s available?”

There was a pause and Lindsay said “He’ll have to call you back, he’s busy at the moment.”

“Okay, well I’ll be in contact,” he said quickly, trying to cut the conversation off.

“Ryan wait, we really should talk about…”  But Ryan had already hung up. 

He realized he was eventually going to have to confront Gavin, Meg, and Lindsay about what happened on Saturday or tell Michael and Jeremy.  The whole situation just felt wrong; he couldn’t believe that Gavin would do something like this.  He shook the thoughts from his head for the moment and tried to relax.  This was not a good time to get bogged down with problems that weren’t his own.

About an hour later he got a call back from Geoff.

“What is it Haywood? Lindsay said you needed me?”

“It’s about Brownman, there is something we need to discuss.”

“I thought Lindsay said it was going well?”

“It is, and that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Look,” Geoff said abruptly, “If it’s not urgent it’s going to have to wait until we get back.  If everything is going well then I have another assignment for you that is going to take priority.”

Ryan frowned. “What do you need me to do?”

“We are having an extremely difficult time getting information on Heyman.  It almost seems like he is purposefully trying to prevent us from knowing what he is doing and that is highly suspicious.  We came up with a plan to try and underhandedly get into his little crime circle.

“Okay…” Ryan said unsurely.

“Don’t be a baby Haywood, all we want you to do is go to him and offer your services.”

“Wait you want me to do what?? There is no way he will trust me!”

“Shut up and listen to me.  You have a reputation and we are going to utilize it.  You are going to go to Heyman and tell him how tired you are of working for me and how you are looking for a better offer.  Everyone knows you have a history of betraying crew leaders and that your loyalties sway with whoever best benefits you.”

Ryan snorted. “And that will make him trust me?”

“Just listen dickhead, Joel is a greedy man, so you will go with an offering, both money and information.  We will set up a decoy warehouse or something that you can give him the location of to get him to trust you.  This doesn’t have to be a long play, just enough to figure out what the hell he is doing here and what his plan his.”

Ryan begrudgingly agreed it wasn’t a bad plan and out of the whole crew, he was probably the best one for it. 

“Fine, I’ll do it.”

“Of course you will.  I’ll have Trevor give you more details once they have worked out where to find Heyman.  We want to get moving on this soon.  If it is before we get back, even better.”

“Understood.  Is there anything else?”

“Yeah, Lindsay says she wants to talk to you.”

“Tell her it can wait, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Ryan..” but he had hung up again.

He spent the rest of the evening in contact with the B-team formulating a plan and reviewing information.  With this new assignment, he decided he no longer needed to tail Ray.  He knew his patterns now and he was unconcerned that anything would change.  He would probably see him tomorrow anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter should come in the next couple days as it is already completed. I hope you won't hate me too much. Thank you for all of your comments, I have read every one and I love seeing your reactions to the story! (and feeding off your pain)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray gets cleaned up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am apologizing in advance and this won't be the last time I'm sure. Joel is a piece of shit and be aware that things are pretty heavy in this chapter so please do mind the warnings. I do promise it will get better (eventually). This is a long one and I hope you like this chapter despite how awful it is and also I hope you'll forgive me. As always let me know what you think!

Ray awoke slowly, head pounding and groggy.  He opened his eyes and sleepily stared at the unfamiliar ceiling.  He frowned, trying to figure out where he was.  His mind seemed to be working through a fog.  He lay there for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts when it hit him all at once.  He sat up quickly, groaning as his sore muscles protested the movement.  All of the events of Thursday evening came crashing back and he felt a mixture anger, shame, and embarrassment wash over him.  As he moved he felt wetness leaking out of him and shuddered as he realized Joel hadn’t bothered to clean him up.  He hated the reminder of what he had been forced to do.

He began to examine the unfamiliar room around him, trying to figure out where he was.  It was a simple bedroom, with a small sofa, night stand, and bed which he was currently upon.  There was a large window to his left with the curtains drawn and a door to his right.  He moved to climb out of bed and felt a metal cuff chafe against his left ankle.  He froze as he realized his ankle was connected to bedframe by a two-foot-long chain.  Ray panicked as he put together what must have happened last night where his memory went dark.  He began to search his pockets only to realize that he was only wearing a pair of boxers.  He ran his hands through his hair, searching for pins he sometimes stashed there when he was on a job in case of emergencies.  No such luck.  He quickly examined the night stand and found nothing useful and the rest of the room was bare of any accessories.  This was really not looking good, he had to find a way out before someone came back for him.

He moved slowly over to the window, doing his best not to rattle the chain.  He was barely able to reach it and pull back the curtain.  He gasped as he saw he was on an upper floor of one of the skyscrapers in downtown Los Santos.  This couldn’t be far from the penthouse.  Well, there would be no escaping that way.  He moved cautiously to the other side of the room, trying to reach the door.  It was probably locked but he could at least try and eavesdrop on what was happening outside.  His chain was too short, however, and he stopped a few feet away.  He went back to the bed and lifted the frame, intending to drag it closer so he could reach the door, but just as he was taking an awkward step backwards, the door clicked and opened.  Ray stumbled in surprise, dropping the bed and falling backwards onto the floor.  He groaned in pain but quickly scrambled to his feet to face the intruder.  His eyes widened in fright when he saw Joel standing in the doorway but his emotions quickly morphed into anger.  He stood defensively, ready to put up a fight if Joel came near him.

“Trying to take the whole bed with you?” Joel inquired sarcastically, quirking an eyebrow at Ray.

Ray ignored him.  “What the hell is going on? Where am I?”

Joel smiled casually and said “You’re in my home of course.  I think it’s clear that you are no longer trustworthy on your own.”

“This is not what we agreed upon,” Ray said angrily.

“No it isn’t, but you aren’t calling the shots anymore.  Like I said before, we are doing things my way now.”

He began to walk towards Ray and Ray held his ground.  “Stay away from me,” he growled.

Joel sighed but did not stop.  Ray took a swing toward Joel’s face but Joel was expecting him and caught Ray’s arm.  Ray swung his other fist in a futile attempt stop Joel but Joel caught it too and he wrenched Ray’s injured arm behind his back, causing Ray to cry out.  Joel shoved him face first into the bed, trapping both his arms behind his back and leaned down and said “Listen up because I am only going to explain this to you once.  You have betrayed me, ran away from me, and are indebted to me and I am not going to tolerate this any longer.  You work for me now, you will do what I say or there will be consequences.”

Ray continued to struggle beneath him.  “You don’t own me, I’m not going to let you do this.”

“See that is where you are wrong Ray, you belong to me and have always belonged to me.  Eventually you will get that into your head.  You would still be trash on the streets of New York if I hadn’t taken your sorry ass in and provided for you.  Now, you need to get cleaned up for our guests who will be here later today.”

Joel released his arms and stood up, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pair of handcuffs and a short chain.

“Now I wish I didn’t have to do this, but until you learn to obey, this is how it has to be.”

Ray began to try and crawl away across the bed but Joel grabbed him and pulled his arms in front of him, cuffing his wrists together and attaching the chain to them.  He bent down and unlocked the cuff from Ray’s ankle and then began to lead Ray toward the door.  Ray resisted and yanked against the chain in Joel’s hand but it earned him a slap and Joel forced him to keep walking.

“Stop it you asshole!” Ray yelled, still trying to fight back.

Joel sighed again.  “Am I going to have to gag you too? Or are you going to shut up and do what I say?”

Ray relented because he really didn’t want Joel to gag him.  He rationalized that if he waited for the right opportunity he still might be able to escape.  Joel lead him down the hallway to a very spacious bathroom.  It was fully furnished with twin sinks, a large walk-in shower, a free-standing tub, and even a small chair and stool to one side.  Joel disconnected the chain from Ray’s wrists but left them cuffed together. 

“I will be back in a few minutes.  Take care of your needs and when I return you better be in the shower.  Don’t even think of trying anything.”  He gave Ray a harsh look of warning before stepping out of the room and locking the door behind him.

Ray took deep breaths trying to calm him panic.  He quickly relieved himself and took stock of the room.  Joel seemed to have prepared ahead of time because there was nothing that could discernably function as a weapon.  He thought he might be able to yank the towel rack off the wall but it was firmly bolted and without more leverage he couldn’t pry it loose.  There were no windows and he knew there would be no escape back through the door so Ray resigned himself to following Joel’s orders.  He pulled off his boxers, awkwardly unbandaged his arm, and stepped into the shower.  The hot water felt good on his sore body and Ray allowed himself a moment to close his eyes and enjoy the relief.  The moment was over quickly however, for Joel had returned shutting the door and locking them inside the bathroom together.

“Aww are you enjoying yourself?  See how when you obey things are so much nicer?”

Ray noticed Joel was carrying a dark container with him which he set on the counter before he began to take off his clothes.  Ray shook his head quickly.

“I don’t need help, you don’t need to…”

Joel smiled at him. “Aww but you used to love showering together, don’t you remember?”  He continued to strip down to nothing before stepping into the shower with Ray.  “Besides, I need to make sure you are nice and clean.”

Ray shrunk back against the tiled wall but Joel merely crowded into his space, looping a hand around Ray to pull their bodies together.  He began to run his hands down Ray’s body, groping him harshly in places and mouthing at his neck.  Ray tried to push him away with his shackled hands that were trapped between them but Joel was too strong.  Joel reached for a shampoo bottle and began to gently wash Ray’s hair.  Ray held back a noise as Joel massaged his scalp; it felt so good.  Joel knew him too well and he was pushing all of his buttons.  He let Joel wash him and didn’t put up and more protest.  All the while Joel was smirking at him, knowing he had won this little victory.  When Joel began to run a hand down Ray’s ass and in between his cheeks Ray yelped and began to start fighting Joel off again.

“Oh baby we need to get you cleaned out.  Looks like someone still has a mess inside.”

Ray continued to struggle and make noises of protest but Joel turned him around, forcing him to face the shower wall.  He began to circle Ray’s hole before pushing a finger inside.  Ray couldn’t hold back the whine that escaped him.

“Don’t hold in those pretty noises baby.  I want to hear how much you like this.”

Joel continued to work Ray open with his fingers, letting the old cum drip out and wash away.  Despite everything, Ray felt himself becoming aroused and he tried to fight down the feeling.  It didn’t escape Joel’s notice though and he reached a hand around and began to gently stroke Ray.

“It seems someone is enjoying themselves.  Do you like being opened up on my fingers baby boy?”

Joel added a third finger, shoving them deeper inside and stretching Ray open.  He continued to pump them in and out before he unexpectedly hooked them to rub against Ray’s prostate.  Ray let out a moan and started to squirm again, trying to pull Joel’s fingers out of him.  Joel moved the hand that was stroking him to pin Ray firmly against the wall and began to quickly fuck Ray onto his fingers.  Ray cried out and said “Stop, please Joel, I don’t want it!”

“Oh but you do sweetheart, look how hard you are.  I think you need something bigger to fill you up now that you have been cleaned out.”

All at once Joel pulled away from him, leaving him to stand shuddering against the shower wall.  To Ray’s surprise Joel stepped out of the shower and walked over to the container he had brought earlier.  He rooted around inside and produced a long, thick dildo with a suction cup on the end.  Ray watched with wide eyes as Joel got back into the shower, toy in hand.

“It’s been a while since we’ve played with your old toys.  This is the perfect opportunity to get you nice and opened up for me.”

Before Ray could react, Joel had grabbed his bound hands and pulled him forward.

“Kneel.”

Ray shook his head and tried to pull away but Joel merely sighed and forced him downward by his hold on Ray’s wrists.  Ray cried out as his knees hit the hard floor.  Joel moved behind him and suctioned the dildo to the shower floor and then he gripped Rays hips and positioned him so that the head of the dildo was poking at his rim.

“I want you to fuck yourself on this toy for me like a good little slut.  I need you to be nice and opened up for later.”

Ray tried again to move out of Joel’s grasp but Joel forced him backwards and onto the toy.  Ray gasped as the head passed into him, stretching him uncomfortably despite how much Joel had opened him before.

“That’s it baby,” Joel said as he eased Ray backwards.

“Joel please stop, it’s too much.. I can’t..”

“Shhh baby yes you can.”  Joel kept a hand on Ray’s shoulder as he stood and moved to stand in front of him.  He began to stroke himself and he grasped the back of Ray’s head as he brought his cock to Ray’s lips.  Ray looked up at him in a panic, keeping his lips firmly closed and trying to turn his head to side.  Joel yanked his hair harshly causing Ray to cry out and Joel took the opportunity to push his cock into Ray’s mouth.

“That’s it baby boy, open wide.”

Ray tried to move away but the more he pulled back from Joel, the further the dildo pressed into him.  It was larger than anything he had taken in a long time and the stretch was beginning to burn.  He tried to relieve his discomfort by lifting off but that forced him to take more of Joel into his mouth.  He whined at his predicament and Joel smirked down at him.

“Look at you, such a slut with both your holes filled.  I bet no one has used you like this but me.”  He pushed himself further into Ray’s mouth to force him down farther onto the silicon cock.  “You can take more than that.”  Ray moaned around Joel’s cock and sank about halfway down.  He was so full already he didn’t know how he would take any more.  They continued for a while, Joel fucking slowly into Ray’s mouth and the dildo entering him further and further until Ray was sitting at the base. 

“There’s a good whore, now fuck yourself for me.  You will not stop until I tell you.” 

Ray’s legs started to shake as he raised himself up and back down again onto the dildo.  He felt himself begin to cry at the humiliation he felt and the overwhelming effort it took to keep going.  The strain on his body and the heat of the water beating down on him was becoming too much.  Joel kept his hold on Ray’s hair, fucking roughly into his mouth.  After a few long minutes he pulled Ray all the way down to the base before cumming down his throat.  Ray choked and gagged but was forced to swallow all of it.

“There you go baby boy, drink it all down.”

Ray couldn’t help the choked sob that escaped him.  He tried to lift all the way off the toy now that Joel was done using his mouth but Joel had other ideas.

“Oh no no no, you will make yourself cum before we are done here.”  He pushed Ray back down, forcing him to fully seat himself on the dildo once again.  Ray continued to cry.

“Joel please… I can’t… Please don’t…”

Joel gave him a wet slap across the face.  “What did you call me?  I’ve let it slide the past few times but am I going to have to reteach you respect as well?”

Ray shook his head, tears mixing with the shower water running down his face.  “I’m sorry sir! I can’t… Please it’s too much!”

Joel slapped him again. “You can and you will, whore.”

Ray sobbed but continued to fuck himself down onto the toy.  He gasped when suddenly his angle changed and he finally felt the cock hit his sweet spot.  He moved faster and tried to use his bound hands to stroke himself off.  After a few more minutes he let out a loud cry, shooting his load over the shower tile.  He collapsed forward, still shaking and sobbing.  He felt Joel pull the toy out of him and then he was being lifted to his feet.

“Always such a crybaby, aren’t you? Let’s get you dried off.”

Joel helped Ray out of the shower and wrapped a towel around him.  He lifted Ray up to set him on the bathroom counter before grabbing a towel for himself and drying off.  Ray clutched his towel around himself and tried to calm his shaky breathing.  Joel redressed himself and then came back over to Ray.  He pulled the towel down from Ray’s shoulders and began to replace the bandage over Ray’s stitches.

“If you would stop fighting me all the time this would probably heal a lot faster.”

Ray said nothing, allowing Joel to treat him.  He just wanted this to be over. 

But of course, Joel still had plans.

Joel placed Ray’s glasses back on his face, picked him up off the counter, and set him back on the floor.

“Turn around and bend over.”

Ray stared at him, paralyzing fear returning once again. “Joel…”

Joel grabbed him, forced him to turn around, and slapped him hard across the ass.  Ray fell forward over the counter with a loud cry.

“What did I tell you about that?  You have not earned my name.”  Joel struck him again, multiple times in quick succession.

Ray sobbed out “I’m sorry sir! Please, I promise I’ll be good!”

Joel relented and reached inside the container to pull out another object.  Ray looked up in the mirror and saw a large butt plug which Joel began to press into his stretched-out hole.  Ray wined at the intrusion, but did not resist, not wanting to invoke Joel’s wrath again.  Ray felt the end taper down until it was firmly settled inside him.  The stretch was uncomfortable and Ray tried not to think about why Joel was keeping him open like this.  Joel gave his ass a possessive squeeze and pressed a finger against plug making Ray let out a low moan.

“This will keep you nice and open for me.  Do you like having a plug filling up your tiny ass little boy?”

“Yes sir,” Ray said, his face burning in embarrassment.

“Good boy, now let’s get you back to your room, I’ve got other work to do today.”

He dressed Ray in a pair of black lacy underwear that barely covered Ray’s ass.  The underwear itched against Ray’s skin and didn’t leave much to the imagination, barely concealing his cock and riding up his ass.  He wished he was wearing something with more coverage but knew better than to complain.  Joel led him back to his room and made him climb back onto the bed.  He re-cuffed Ray’s ankle to the base of the bed and this time he left Ray’s hands cuffed together and attached them to another chain Ray hadn’t noticed before that was attached to the headboard.  That was where he left him, not telling Ray when he would return.  Ray curled up the best he could on the bed and tried hard not to cry.  There had to be a way out, he couldn’t give up yet.  His mind wandered to Ryan and he felt a stab of heartache.  He knew Joel hadn’t forgotten about that and he vowed that even if he never escaped Joel, he would keep Ryan safe no matter what.  He fell into a troubled sleep, dreading what else was in store for him today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes! Well, stay tuned for more in the next week!
> 
> (also feel free to yell at me on my tumblr if you so desire)  
> http://thesniperandtheskeleton.tumblr.com


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray is trapped, Ryan makes a plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back with another chapter! Sorry my schedule has been so erratic. I am having a hard time keep consistency with my posts as life has gotten very busy with my new job. I want to update again within the next week or two. The next few chapters are going to be big (as well as some of my favorites!) and I want to do them well. Thanks for your patience and lovely comments; they are very encouraging!

Ray dozed on and off into the afternoon, having nothing better to do.  He gave up on trying to free himself; without any implements to help him he had no way of removing the cuffs.  At one point, someone brought him food which he accepted without comment.  It must have been some time close to evening when he was visited again.  He heard the key turn in the lock and he sat up the best he could and turned to face the door.  To his surprise, it wasn’t Joel but Jon.  He scowled at him. “What the hell do you want?”

Jon just smiled.  “Didn’t I tell you Ray?  I warned you not to make the wrong choice again but it seems you didn’t take my advice.  Just look at you now.”

Ray’s cheeks burned.  He was suddenly very aware of his vulnerable and undressed state.  Jon walked over to him and began to detach his restraints from the frame of the bed.  Ray looked at him wary and confused.  “What are you doing?”

“Heyman didn’t tell you?  Well, he has an important meeting tonight with some new, err.. ‘associates’ and he wants me to get you ready to join him.”

Ray didn’t like the sound of that but he didn’t protest.  Maybe this would be his chance to try and escape.  Jon led him back to the bathroom, hands still bound, and sat him down on the small stool.

“Now, the more you cooperate, the easier this will be.  I am going uncuff your hands so you can get dressed.  If you try anything, this will not end well for you.”

Ray nodded and extended his hands out and Jon unlocked one of the cuffs.  He thought that out of anyone he might have a chance of taking Jon but he wasn’t going to risk it now and throw away an opportunity.  Jon handed him a black, sheer top, black leather shorts, and finally some tall, black socks.  Ray begrudgingly got dressed.  At least he had some clothes now even if this was all Joel was letting him wear.  The sheer material of the shirt clung to him uncomfortably and the tiny leather shorts weren’t leaving much to the imagination.  The clothes were exactly the kind of thing that Joel wanted him to wear around home back in New York.  Ray had always refused.

Jon cuffed his hands back together and then reached for a bag of makeup.  Ray blanched at that.  “What the hell do you need that for?”

Jon smirked.  “To get you ready for tonight.  Joel likes to have his things looking nice when company is over.”

Ray glared but allowed Jon to put a small amount of eye shadow, mascara, and blush on him.  When he was done, Jon admired his work with a self-righteous smile.

“Well, Joel is expecting you so we better get moving, but first one more thing.” Jon produced a black leather collar and held it up in front of Ray.  Ray’s eyes widened and he shook his head.

“No, I’m not wearing that.”

“Well that’s too bad because Joel said that you will.”

Jon reached forward and secured the collar snugly around Ray’s neck.  Where the two ends met, they locked together making it impossible to remove without a key.  Jon then led Ray back out of the bathroom and this time down the opposite end of the hall and into the rest of Joel’s home.  Ray was ushered into a lounge where Joel sat sipping a glass of brown liquor in an armchair.  Around the room were seated several other men whose discussion stopped when Jon and Ray entered the room.  Joel smiled and gestured them in.  Jon continued to walk Ray forward until he was in front of Joel.  Joel’s hands reached out to possessively grasp Ray’s hips and he pulled him into his lap.  Ray tried to straighten himself out but it was difficult with his hands cuffed together and he was forced to stop struggling and let Joel maneuver him how he wanted.  Joel leaned in to press sloppy kisses along Ray’s jawline.  His breath stank of alcohol and Ray grimaced and recoiled.  Joel laughed and the hand that was wrapped around Ray’s waist pulled him in closer.

“Nice pet you have there Heyman,” said one of the greasy looking men.

“He’s a pretty one, isn’t he?” Joel said, reaching his other hand up to cup Ray’s jaw.  “I spent a lot of time chasing him down.”  He leaned in and tried to kiss Ray but Ray twisted away.  Joel just laughed again and went back to kissing Ray’s neck.

“So Heyman, are you really serious about this plan?” one of the other men addressed him.

Joel looked up, a cocky smile forming on his face.  “Dead serious.  I wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble if I wasn’t.  Are you saying you’re in?”

The men exchanged glances and slowly smiles began to spread over their faces.  They all nodded.  “Yeah, I think we’re all in.”

“Excellent.” Joel look elated.  Ray knew whatever was going on here it didn’t bode well.  He recognized a couple of the men as bottom-rung gang leaders that held an insignificant amount of power the city.  Usually larger crews kept groups like theirs in check.  Together though, and combined with Joel’s power, they might pose a bigger threat.  But for what purpose?

“I have another important meeting tomorrow that will hopefully cement our position but in the meantime, should we celebrate?” Joel raised a glass and others did so in turn all cheering and taking a drink.  Joel began to grope Ray more aggressively now, setting down his glass and running a hand up Ray’s chest under his shirt.  Ray squirmed but Joel didn’t stop, now taking the hand that was around his waist and running it over Ray’s crotch.

The men were watching them eagerly, clearly enjoying the show. One of them spoke up. “Are you going to let us have a turn?”

Ray’s eyes widened and Joel smirked and leaned in to whisper in Ray’s ear.  “I told you I was going to put you to work, didn’t I?  Are you going to behave and show these boys a good time?”

Ray started to protest; Joel was one thing but these men… Joel suddenly pinched his nipple and Ray gasped.  He looked at him sternly.  “You will do what I say, or there will be consequences.”

He turned back to the men who were waiting eagerly.  “Try to go easy on him, he’s still being broken in.”  At that, Joel reached over to the table next to him where sat the leash to the collar.  He attached it to Ray and then stood up, pulling Ray with him.  He handed the leash to one of men who took it eagerly and then he walked to the door to the lounge.  “I’ll be back in a bit, have fun boys.” He smiled evilly one last time in Ray’s direction before shutting the door and walking away.

~~~

Ryan sat in the penthouse heist room surrounded by papers.  He was meeting with Trevor, Jack, and some other support team members.  They were currently preparing for his meeting with Heyman and analyzing every bit of information they had.  It had been easy enough for him to put the word out that he might be interested in some ‘alternative’ work and soon enough he had received an anonymous message.  It had given him a time and place at which he could meet to discuss a ‘business offer’.  The location lined up with where they suspected Heyman to be lurking.  It was a sleazy club in a shitty part of town and if Heyman was using it as a front than this would be an excellent lead.  The plan was per Geoff’s instructions.  He was to go and listen to what Heyman had to say, and then offer to help him.  If that included betraying then he was to follow through.

“We have set up a decoy warehouse for you to offer up to Heyman should it be necessary.  We also have a decent sum of cash to bring a good-will offering and hopefully that will be enough to easy his suspicions,” Trevor said.

Ryan nodded. “It should be sufficient for now, and hopefully this ruse won’t have to last for long.”

“Let’s hope not,” Jack said.  “As soon as you learn anything valuable we need to know asap.  And don’t go taking unnecessary risks, we want this done carefully.”

Ryan rolled his eyes.  “Yeah yeah okay, I get it, I need to be cautious.”

“In the meantime, we will be doing as much as we can on our end.  This club is a good lead.”  Trevor started gathering up papers and Ryan took it as a sign that they were done for the night.  He headed to his room to gather up his Vagabond stuff before going back home to crash for the night.   He pulled out his phone to see if he had anything from Ray.  He frowned.  Still nothing.  He hadn’t heard from Ray since he saw him yesterday evening.  He tried not to worry too much, Ray might just be busy and it had only been a day.  He figured if he hadn’t heard anything by tomorrow he would call.  He didn’t want to seem overbearing but he couldn’t help but feel a creepy sense of worry that something had happened.  He sighed as he laid down in bed.  He was overreacting, he was sure he would hear from Ray by tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter; we are building up to some very big things! Let me know what you thought!


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